 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Iranian President and former mayor of Tehran. Ahmadinejad, a religious hardliner, is a member of a sect that believes in the existence of a hidden imam who will one day return as the world’s savior, under an apocalyptic scenario if need be. As president, he has said that Israel must be wiped off the map, and under his regime, Iran has actively continued its nuclear program, and formed battalions of 40,000 suicide bombers to protect it.
"Have no doubt... Allah willing, Islam will conquer what? It will conquer all the mountain tops of the world."
"Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine, and more eternal than the art of martyrdom?"
"America's straw-like strength and satanic rule over the world is about to be annihilated."
"The decisive policy of the regime is for us to become nuclear."
 Adam Gadahn
American born member convert to Islam, and member of Al-Qaeda, with ties to the group’s senior leadership. Azzam al-Amriki (Azzam the American)—his nom de guerre—has appeared in numerous Al-Qaeda videos threatening America and its allies. He was raised on a goat farm in California, and converted to Islam in the mid 1990s. Gadahn is currently assumed to be hiding in the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2006, he was charged with treason. He is the first American to be charged with the crime in over 50 years.
"We love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions, and slitting the throats of the infidels".
"September 11 was but the opening salvo of the global war on America."
"The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11th"
"Your failure to heed our demands and the demands of reason means that you and your people will - Allah willing - experience things"
 Ismail Haniyeh
Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and a senior leader of Hamas. After the death of Ahmad Yassin, Haniyeh was one of the leaders of the group in Gaza and the West Bank, and has been the target of IDF assassination attempts. Haniyeh holds a degree in Arabic literature, and is a former dean of the Islamic University in Gaza. Hamas, a branch of the Islamist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, seeks to establish an Islamic state where Israel and the PA currently reside.
"The constants and the strategy of Hamas do not change according to circumstances. Hamas will stay faithful to jihad, to resistance, to guns, to Palestine and to Jerusalem."
"I'm proud that my family has joined the convoy of martyrs, and I pray to Allah that I may follow them."
"We will keep to the same path until we win one of two goals: victory or martyrdom."
 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iran’s supreme leader, and spiritual leader of many other Shiite Muslims, including Hizbullah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. According to an article in the Economist, “aside from being supreme leader of the revolution… [Khamenei] also styles himself Leader of the Islamic World.” As of 2003, Iran was one of the most active state sponsors of terror, aiding in weapons smuggling and supporting suicide bombing. Under Khamenei, various terrorist groups have received Iranian funding, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah. Despite his support for terrorist activities, Khamenei has issued a fatwa against production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons, saying it was against Islamic belief. NPR has stated there may be a power struggle taking place between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei.
"The foundation of the Islamic regime is opposition to Israel, and Iran's continuous issue is the obliteration of Israel from the region."
"It is the zenith of honor for a man, a young person, boy or girl, to be prepared to sacrifice his life in order to serve the interests of his nation and his religion. This is the zenith of courage and bravery.... martyrdom-seeking operations demonstrate the pinnacle of a nation's honor."
"Our people say “death to America”, and this is like saying “I seek God’s refuge from the accursed Satan,” which is recited before any chapter of the Koran."
 Osama Bin Laden
Saudi born leader of Al Qaeda. He was born in 1957 and is the youngest of 24 brothers. He holds a degree in public administration 1981 from King Abdul-Aziz university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The family business, the Bin Laden group, is one of the largest construction companies in the Arab world. Bin Laden himself has been reported as having an estimated net worth over $200 million dollars. He was actively involved in the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and has continued to play a significant role in terrorist activities around the world, including the destruction of the World Trade Center. His current whereabouts are unknown, a $25 million reward is being offered for information leading directly to his apprehension or conviction.
"It is very important to concentrate on hitting the US economy through all possible means."
"God willing, the end of America is imminent."
"Hostility toward America is a religious duty, and we hope to be rewarded for it by God…
I am confident that Muslims will be able to end the legend of the so-called superpower that is America."
"We should fully understand our religion. Fighting is part of our religion and our shari'a (Islamic law). Those who love God and his Prophet and this religion cannot deny that. Whoever denies even a minor tenet of our religion commits the gravest sin in Islam."
"The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy mosque [Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim."
 Khaled Mashaal
Damascus based leader of Hamas, Mashaad is the primary decision maker for the organization, in consultation with other Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank. In 1997, Mossad agents in Jordan attempted to assassinate him, by injecting him with poison. Hamas, a branch of the Islamist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, seeks to establish an Islamic state where Israel and the PA currently reside.
"We say this to the West, which does not act reasonably, and does not learn lessons: by Allah, you will be defeated. Tomorrow our nation [Islam] will sit on the throne of the world. This is not a figment of the imagination, but a fact. Tomorrow we will lead the world. Today, you are fighting the army of Allah. You are fighting against people for whom death for the sake of Allah, and for the sake of honor and glory, is preferable to life."
"We will never give up our principles; anyone who thinks that Hamas is tired or weak is mistaken. Hamas has not stopped its military operations."
"Our government is like a large tent, which protects the mujahideen and in it they find refuge."
 Abu Hamza al Masri
Egyptian born British cleric, currently serving a seven year prison term in the UK for incitement to murder and racial hatred. Before his arrest, he was the imam at London’s Finsbury Park Mosque, and leader of “Supporters of Sharia" (Islamic law). Many terrorists attended Finsbury Park, including ‘shoe bomber,’ Richard Reid, and other Al-Qaeda operatives. Abu Hamza was active in the jihad in Bosnia, as well as in Afghanistan where he lost both hands and an eye in a de-mining project.
"What makes Allah happy? Allah is happy when kaffir (infidel) gets killed."
"It’s only a matter of time until we rule Earth, until we control Earth."
"In the end of the day, Islam must control Earth, whether we like it or not. It’s a promise of Allah, it’s a promise from the prophet."
"America is a blackmailing nation. Nothing but that. A drunk blackmailing superpower which will stake power until there is nobody in the planet out of its order. The new God of the planet. And Allah will destroy America…"
"Jews, until now they know, they know from the hadith of [Mohammed] that they gonna be all killed in Palestine. But they still collect themselves in big number to go to Palestine… And the Jews will die in this area in great number, and it will be the greatest and the largest graveyard for Jews all over Earth, for them, because they will have nowhere to go."
 Hassan Nasrallah
Secretary General of Hezbollah (party of Allah), a Lebanese Shi’ite political and paramilitary organization, holding seats in the Lebanese government. He studied Islam in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. According to MIPT, “Nasrallah’s most noteworthy achievement is his leadership in transforming Hezbollah from a secretive revolutionary group into a professional fighting force with modern weaponry that is also a major social and political force in Lebanon.”
"We prefer death, martyrdom, and the graveyards of martyrs than to enjoy the guarantees and protection of America and Israel."
"Whoever has not tasted the taste of Jihad does not understand Jihad. Whoever has not tasted the taste of martyrdom does not understand martyrdom."
"Our motto, which we are not afraid to repeat year after year, is: Death to America."
"The most honorable death is by killing. And the most honorable killing and the most glorious martyrdom is when a man is killed for the sake of Allah."
 Yousef Qaradawi
Qatari based imam, widely praised as a moderate, and one of the most influential clerics in the world today. He has written numerous books, has a popular website, and hosts a program on Al-Jazeera. As a moderate, he has welcomed democracy and reform in the Arab world, and condemned the 9-11 attacks. In contrast, he has also advocated suicide bombings, stoning of homosexuals, and female genital mutilation. He is currently barred from entering the United States. Sheikh Qaradawi is a member of the Islamist group, The Muslim Brotherhood.
"We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America, not through the sword but through dawah (missionary work)."
"Everything will be on our side and against Jews on [Judgment Day], at that time, even the stones and the trees will speak, with or without words, and say: "Oh servant of Allah, oh Muslim, there's a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
"When we enter [a war] under the banner of Islam, and under the banner of serving Allah, we will be victorious."
 Ikrima Sabri
The Mufti (Islamic Religious leader) of Jerusalem, and the senior religious figure in the Palestinian Authority.
"O Allah, destroy America! O Allah, destroy Britain and its supporters and collaborators!"
"O Allah, destroy America as it is controlled by Zionist Jews... Allah will avenge, in the name of His Prophet, the colonialist settlers who are the descendents of monkeys and pigs..."
"The Muslim loves death and martyrdom, just as [the Jews] love life. There is a great difference between he who loves the hereafter and he who loves this world. The Muslim loves death [and seeks] Martyrdom."
 Adnan El-Shukrijumah
Many imprisoned Al-Qaeda figures have identified Shukrimjumah as having been selected by the group, to lead the next major attack being planned against the United States. FBI officials have described him as a “grave danger,” and he has been compared to Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the 9/11 attacks. US officials have confirmed that he has attempted to obtain radioactive material to make a dirty bomb. Various reports claim that nuclear materials have already been smuggled into the United State, with sleeper cells waiting for the signal to attack. A five million dollar reward is currently being offered for information leading directly to his capture.
 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
Former leader of the Al-Qaeda insurgency in Iraq. Zarqawi was blamed for the deaths of thousands, including other Muslims, coalition forces and others, in bombings, assassinations, and other attacks. He was also responsible for a number of beheadings, including British civil engineer Ken Bigley. He had been named, in 2003, as the mastermind behind a series of attacks from Casablanca to Istanbul. The Jordanian born jihadi was killed in a US air strike, in June 2006.
"This will deprive the people of the cross (Christians) of sleep, thwart their plans and retard their campaign, for they said at the start of their war on Muslims that a main aim was to eradicate al Qaeda in Afghanistan and now al Qaeda has spread globally."
"We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it."
"The killing of infidels by any method including martyrdom (suicide) operations has been sanctified by many scholars even if it means killing innocent Muslims…The shedding of Muslim blood…is allowed in order to avoid the greater evil of disrupting jihad."
 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri
A Cairo trained physician, and deputy leader of Al-Qaeda. As a member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, he played a role in the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the attempted assassination of President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia. As a member of Al-Qaeda, he continues to be involved in the planning and execution of terrorist activities around the world, including an aborted 2003 attack against the New York subway system. He was indicted by the US government for his alleged role in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. A $25 million reward is currently being offered for information leading directly to his apprehension or conviction.
"Jihad for the sake of Allah is greater than any individual or organization. It is a struggle between Truth and Falsehood, until Allah inherits the earth and all who live on it."
"Oh peoples of the crusader coalition, we have warned you, but it appears that you want us to make you taste the horrors of death. So taste some of what you made us taste."
"Oh Americans, what you have seen in New York and Washington, and the casualties you witness in Afghanistan and in Iraq, despite all the media blackout, are nothing but the casualties of the initial clashes."
"There is no solution without jihad"
Radical Islamic Groups
(Excerpted from the Council on Foreign Relations Website)
 Al Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is an international terrorist network started and led by Osama bin Laden. It seeks to rid Muslim countries of what it sees as the profane influence of the West and replace their governments with fundamentalist Islamic regimes. After al-Qaeda’s September 11, 2001 attacks on America, the United States launched a war in Afghanistan to destroy al-Qaeda’s bases there and overthrow the Taliban, the country’s Muslim fundamentalist rulers who harbored bin Laden and his followers. “Al-Qaeda” is Arabic for “the base.”
 Jamaat al-Islamiyya & Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Egypt’s two largest Islamist terrorist groups are Jamaat al-Islamiyya and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, both of which have important ties to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network. Offshoots of the much older and more grassroots-oriented Muslim Brotherhood, these two groups have been active since the 1970s. They draw young lower- and middle-class followers from the country’s south and from Cairo’s slums. Leaders from both groups fought alongside the Afghan mujahadeen against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Most Egyptians have expressed revulsion for the groups’ terrorist attacks, which have decimated one of Egypt’s most important sources of income,
Experts say bin Laden’s terror network grew in part out of Egyptian extremist groups, and many of al-Qaeda’s leaders are Egyptians. In recent years, bin Laden brought two leaders of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the late Muhammad Atef, into the top echelons of al-Qaeda. In addition, some members of Jamaat al-Islamiyya have reportedly joined al-Qaeda. Overall, dozens of Egyptian militants passed through al-Qaeda training camps in Taliban-run Afghanistan.
Many experts think Zawahiri, who was jailed in Egypt for his part in President Anwar al-Sadat’s 1981 assassination, and Atef were the brains behind al-Qaeda’s deadliest terrorist operations, including the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in East Africa and the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. (Atef was reportedly killed in a U.S. bombing raid in Afghanistan shortly after September 11.)
 Hamas
Hamas is the largest and most influential Palestinian militant movement. In January 2006, the group won the Palestinian Authority's (PA) general legislative elections, defeating Fatah, the party of the PA's president, Mahmoud Abbas, and setting the stage for a power struggle…
Hamas combines Palestinian nationalism with Islamic fundamentalism. Its founding charter commits the group to the destruction of Israel, the replacement of the PA with an Islamist state on the West Bank and Gaza, and to raising "the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine." Its leaders have called suicide attacks the "F-16" of the Palestinian people. Hamas believes "peace talks will do no good," Rantisi said in April 2004. "We do not believe we can live with the enemy."
Hamas is believed to have killed more than 500 people in more than 350 separate terrorist attacks since 1993. Not all Hamas' attacks have been carried out by suicide bombers. The group has also accepted responsibility for assaults using mortars, short-range rockets, and small arms fire. The organization generally targets deeply religious young men [to accept suicide missions] although some bombers have been older. The recruits do not fit the usual psychological profile of suicidal people, who are often desperate or clinically depressed. Hamas bombers often hold paying jobs, even in poverty-stricken Gaza. What they have in common, studies say, is an intense hatred of Israel. After a bombing, Hamas gives the family of the suicide bomber between $3,000 and $5,000 and assures them their son died a martyr in holy jihad.
 Hezbollah
Hezbollah is a Lebanese umbrella organization of radical Islamic Shiite groups and organizations. It opposes the West, seeks to create a Muslim fundamentalist state modeled on Iran, and is a bitter foe of Israel. Hezbollah, whose name means “party of God,” is a terrorist group believed responsible for nearly 200 attacks since 1982 that have killed more than 800 people, according to the Terrorism Knowledge Base. Experts say Hezbollah is also a significant force in Lebanon’s politics and a major provider of social services, operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services, for thousands of Lebanese Shiites. It also operates the al-Manar satellite television channel and broadcast station.
Hezbollah and its affiliates have planned or been linked to a lengthy series of terrorist attacks against the United States, Israel, and other Western targets. These attacks include: A series of kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon, including several Americans in the 1980s; the suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983; the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, which featured the famous footage of the plane’s pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head; two major attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina—the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy (killing twenty-nine) and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center (killing ninety-five); and a July 2006 raid on a border post in northern Israel in which two Israeli soldiers were taken captive. The abductions sparked an Israeli military campaign against Lebanon to which Hezbollah responded by firing rockets across the Lebanese border into Israel.
After the 2005 elections, Hezbollah won fourteen seats in the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. In addition, Hezbollah has two ministers in the government, and a third is endorsed by the group. Hezbollah did not disarm when it entered Lebanese politics, and experts say the group's new political involvement is not an indication that the group is becoming more moderate.
 Jemaah Islamiyah
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is a militant Islamist group active in several Southeast Asian countries that's seeking to establish a pan-Islamic state across much of the region. Anti-terror authorities struck a blow against Jemaah Islamiyah ("Islamic Organization" in Arabic) when they arrested its operational chief, Nurjaman Riduan Ismuddin, also known as Hambali, in Thailand August 2003. JI is alleged to have attacked or plotted against U.S. and Western targets in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The most recent attack believed to have been carried out by JI operatives came on October 1, 2005, when a series of suicide bombings killed at least nineteen people and wounded more than 100 in Bali, a beachfront city and international tourist destination.
 The Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group (known by its French acronym, GIA) is a radical offshoot of Algeria’s main Islamist opposition. Since the North African country plunged into a bloody civil war in 1992, the group has been linked to terrorist attacks in Europe and to the massacres of tens of thousands of civilians in Algeria. In the past few years, many GIA members have joined other splinter Islamist groups or have been jailed or killed in government crackdowns. The GIA is now thought to have between a few hundred and a few thousand operatives and is listed on the U.S. roster of foreign terrorist groups.
 Ansar al Islam (Excerpted from Global Security.org)
Ansar al Islam (Supporters of Islam) was formed in December 2001. The Sunni Islamic group is composed primarily of Kurds who follow an extremist brand of Islam, however their primary focus is opposing the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two large secular Kurdish groups that opposed Saddam Hussein with U.S. backing. Ansar al Islam, which operates in northeastern Iraq, has close links to and support from al-Qaida. Al-Qaida and Osama Bin Laden participated in the formation and funding of the group, which has provided safe haven to al-Qaida members in northeastern Iraq.
 Hizb ut Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation) a radical Islamic political movement that seeks 'implementation of pure Islamic doctrine' and the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Central Asia. The group's aim is to resume the Islamic way of life and to convey the Islamic da’wah [propagation] to the world. The ultimate goal of this secretive sectarian group is to unite the entire ummah, or Islamic world community, into a single caliphate [religious state].
 Lashkar-e-Taiba (Excerpted from Council on Foreign Relations)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or “Army of the Pure,” is the armed wing of a Pakistani-based religious organization founded in 1989. During the 1990s, the group received instruction and funding from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), in exchange for a pledge to target Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir and to train Muslim extremists on Indian soil. After 9/11, when the United States named LeT a terrorist group and Islamabad banned it, the group went underground, splintered and began using different names, and stopped claiming responsibility for attacks. However, LeT is suspected of involvement in the December 2001 attack of New Delhi’s Parliament, the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, and the February 2007 blast of a train running between India and Pakistan.
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