September 1997

Al Qa’idah town in Yemen is the origin of the name of the group now known as Al Qaeda. 

This assertion is based on my 1997 visit to the Al Qaeda sanctuary shown on this map 

My claim has been countered by the following individuals & entities, starting in June 2015, all claiming that Al Qa’idah town had no connection or relevence whatsoever to Al Qaeda.

These counter claims began two-months after I had described the exact location of my 1997 visit to a Al Qaeda base to British counter terrorism police; I did this in a telephone call made approximately one-week after the Saudi attacks on Yemen began, in March 2015.

The Al Qaidah Challenge:
Who can find an earlier reference about Al Qa’idah town in Yemen NOT being linked to Al Qaeda?
(answer to @mancunianquiet please)

February 2009 & April 2015 -

I telephone British security services and describe the location of my meeting with al Qaeda as being a right hand turn off the main road after about 30-minutes driving north from Taiz, then a further 10-or-15-minute drive cross country - through fields, along a sand track and in to a wooded valley and a collection of buildings at it’s entrance.

June 2015 - Reprieve organisation

The first public assertion that I can find to Al Qa’idah town NOT being linked to the terrorist group Al Qaeda was made by Reprieve in June 2015, upon the release of a Yemeni Guantanamo Bay prison detainee. Whilst no author is listed, attorney Pradhan Alka (@pradhanalka) was working for Reprieve at this time (see December 2018)

September 2015 - Newsweek magazine

Newsweek (@newsweek) publishes a report detailing Emad Hassan’s detention then release from Guantanamo Bay prison. In it that state very specifically that Al Qa’idah town has no links to the Al Qaeda terrorist group. This report is credited to Lauren Walker (@LaserLauren)

.

December 2017 - The New York Times Magazine

by Reprieve, a legal human-rights orientated organisation

 

whilst human rights organisationNewswe 

This green bottomed valley in Yemen is al Qaeda -the Base -  a sanctuary established by Osama bin-Laden in 1987 for Afghan-Arabs returning from victory over the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Click here for map.

It's where Afghan-Arab mujahideen returning from Afghanistan were resettled & retrained with the help of Yemeni President Saleh, General Mohsen & the CIA