Public Intelligence

A document entitled “Full Expectations” was reportedly authored by Samir Khan, a U.S. citizen who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen last year along with Anwar al-Awlaki. The document details what potential Jihadis should expect and bears a great deal of similarity to Inspire magazine, which was also reportedly authored by Khan. After several new issues of Inspire magazine surfaced online in early May, the following document has also recently appeared online with an acknowledgement of the death of Samir Khan.

The eighth and ninth issues of Inspire magazine reportedly created by Al-Malahem Media Foundation, the media arm of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Issue eight is from September 2011 but was only recently released online. Issue nine is from April 2012.

One of the more interesting aspects of Inspire magazine is its use of a public key encryption system for communication based upon a program called Asrar al-Mujahideen. The fundamentals of using this program are explained in the first issue of Inspire magazine. Throughout the first six issues of the magazine the same four email addresses are listed alongside a public key for use with the Asrar al-Mujahideen program. In the September 2011 issue there is a different public key listed, though the email addresses remain the same. All four email addresses used are associated with free email providers located in the United States. All of the providers log IP information for users of their services and the suggested program used for encryption does not take any steps to hide the sender’s identifying information.

The shadowy al-Qaeda group has reportedly criticized Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for spreading “conspiracy theories” about 9/11 attacks, casting doubt on the alleged role of the terrorist group in the incidents. An article published in the latest issue of al-Qaeda’s English-language magazine Inspire criticized President Ahmadinejad’s UN remarks over the September 11 attacks as “ridiculous,” Western media report. During his address to the UN General Assembly on September 22, President Ahmadinejad said the US government was involved in the 9/11 attacks or allowed them to happen to find an excuse to wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The article insisted that President Ahmadinejad’s remarks that the 9/11 attacks were actually carried by the US “stands in the face of all logic and evidence.” This comes as reports released by al-Qaeda are usually believed to be produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The seventh issue of “Inspire” magazine reportedly produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media organization Al-Malahem.

The sixth issue of Inspire magazine reportedly produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s Al-Malahem Media Foundation and released July 18, 2011.

A recent article by the Washington Post is helping to spread the mistaken belief that Inspire magazine’s first issue was attacked by a virus which corrupted most of its content. The article states that while U.S. sources debated how to sabotage or otherwise “attack” the publication of the magazine, which is said to be produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a group of British “cyber warriors” took action. The article states that “when Inspire launched on June 30, the magazine’s cover may have promised an ‘exclusive interview’ with Sheik Abu Basir al-Wahishi, a former aide to Osama bin Laden, and instructions on how to ‘Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.’ But pages 4 through 67 of the otherwise slick magazine, including the bomb-making instructions, were garbled as a result of the British cyber-attack.” The article also states that it took almost two weeks for a corrected and complete version of the magazine to emerge.

The National Crime Squad (DNR, Dienst Nationale Recherche) of the Dutch National Police (KLPD; Korps landelijke politiediensten) has threatened to shut down Public Intelligence if we do not remove the issues of Inspire magazine which are made available on this site. In a request made to our hosting provider in late February, the Dutch National Crime Squad demanded that we remove all issues of Inspire magazine from our website and refrain from distributing any further issues of the publication. The notice describes the magazine’s content as “illegal” under Dutch law: “Due to the content of this magazine which is considered illegal according to the Dutch law due to the inciting content related to Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, we would like you to remove this magazine from your website.” The notice goes on to state that if the content is not removed from this site, the Dutch police “will under the force of circumstances take down your website on the dedicated server in the Netherlands according to Dutch Law.”

The fifth issue of “Inspire” magazine reportedly produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media organization Al-Malahem.

The third issue of “Inspire” magazine reportedly produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media organization Al-Malahem.

(U//FOUO) This product is intended to provide perspective and understanding of the nature and scope of potentially emergent threats in response to the posting of the second edition of Inspire magazine. It is also intended to assist federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies and authorities, the private sector, and other entities to develop priorities for protective and support measures relating to an existing or emerging threat to the homeland security.

The following is the third issue of “Inspire” magazine reportedly produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media organization Al-Malahem. As with the previous two issues, the first of which began with as a cupcake recipe book, the authenticity of this document should be deeply scrutinized. This material is provided, as always, for educational and informational purposes.

(U//FOUO) Purpose and Scope: Provide first responders with a summary, analysis, warnings & indicators, and implications of key articles in the Fall 2010 Inspire magazine for Oregon and SW Washington.

The following document is reportedly the full and “uncorrupted” version of the Inspire Magazine said to be produced by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The file was removed from Scribd after it falsely claimed to have received a notice from the “copyright holder” of the magazine. The authenticity of the following document should be deeply scrutinized. We have also been unable to remove password protection and security settings from the file, something that we are normally able to do quite easily with government documents.