Qaeda turns to rap to battle infidels

Al Qaeda’s newest weapon against the West is a violent English-language rap tune urging young Muslims to wage holy war. The song is being broadcast on the Internet in an attempt to lure music-loving youth into the terror network.

Titled Dirty Kuffar or Dirty Infidels, the song is performed by a London-based group which Islamists said was deeply sympathetic to Osama bin Laden’s network.

A music video accompanies the catchy yet violent lyrics, belted out by the group’s lead singer Sheikh Terra - rap lingo for terror - and the Soul Salah Crew, a take-off on gritty British rappers So Solid Crew. Salah means righteousness or piety in Arabic.

The song calls on Muslims to wage jihad, or holy war, against Crusaders and apostate Arab rulers, saying they will be thrown in a fire.

“Be prepared for the battle with the infidels,” it says. The video, which uses footage from news agencies and television, opens with images of a US soldier killing an Iraqi man and then cheering.

“Dirty Kuffar wherever you are; From Kandahar to Ramallah; OBL (Osama bin Laden) Crew be like a shining star; like the way we destroy them two tower ha ha,” one singer raps in front of images of the September 11 airliner attacks on New York’s World Trade Center. In the video, al Qaeda’s second in command Ayman al-Zawahri morphs into a lion while US President George W Bush becomes a chimpanzee. Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd turns into a devil and Egypt’s apostate President Hosni Mubarak becomes a vampire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon turns into a pig. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is labelled a traitor. —Reuters

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