Monday, May 2, 2011

A Guide to Who Isn't Happy About Bin Laden's Death


    A Guide to Who Isn't Happy About Bin Laden's Death
  • Hamas: Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip,condemned the "killing of an Arab holy warrior" and characterized the U.S. operation "as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood." The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank and recently agreed to form a unity government with Hamas, felt differently, calling bin Laden's death "good for the cause of peace."
  • Pervez Musharaff: The former Pakistani president claimed that the raid constituted a "violation" of Pakistan's sovereignty and argued that the Pakistani government "should have been kept in the loop" about the mission. In his speech last night, President Obama declared that Pakistani intelligence "helped lead" the U.S. to bin Laden but, as ABC points out, both U.S. and Pakistani officials are saying today that the U.S. carried out the operation by itself, "without Pakistani participation or advance notice." The only evidence we're seeing to the contrary is an Al Jazeera Arabic report from earlier today suggesting that Pakistani troops supported U.S. forces during the raid.
  • Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Egypt's most influential Islamist political group, which was outlawed before Hosni Mubarak fell from power, says the group's members "are against using violence in general and assassinations and that they support a fair trial for any suspect whatever the crime is," according toThe Wall Street Journal.
  • The Taliban: A Taliban commander in Afghanistan declared that his fighters would avenge bin Laden's death with renewed jihad, according to The Guardian. A Taliban spokesman in Pakistan expressed asimilar sentiment, threatening attacks against U.S. and Pakistani targets.
  • Al-Qaeda, of course: A member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), bin Laden's network in Yemen, called their leader's death a "catastrophe," according to AFP, and another al-Qaeda member declared that "the battle between us and international tyranny is long and will not be stopped by the martyrdom of our beloved one, the lion of Islam. How many martyrdom seekers have been born today?" according to the AP.
  • Al-Shabab: A spokesman for the militant group in Somalia stated that "we shall retaliate against the Americans, Israel, Europe, and Christians in Somalia with destructive explosions and other acts that will harm them," according to the AP.

Sources

Posted by Robby Ball at 9:40 AM