Al-Qaida issues how-to advice for militants in English-language magazine

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Islamist movement’s most active branch, has released an English-language magazine advising would-be militants on how to torch parked cars and cause traffic accidents.

The magazine, released on militant websites, also warns France to pull back from Mali and lists 11 public figures in the West, including author Salman Rushdie, who it says are “wanted dead or alive for crimes against Islam”.

AQAP, based in the impoverished, lawless state of Yemen, has previously plotted to bring down international airliners and is seen by Western governments as a danger to oil-producing Gulf states and major crude shipment routes.

In a section entitled “open source jihad”, the magazine gives tips on how to set fire to parked cars, including advice such as “don’t get petrol on yourself”, and suggests spilling oil on road bends to cause crashes.

An editorial in the magazine warned France to end its military intervention in Mali, citing the U.S. experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, which it said made “them bite their fingertips in regret”.

The magazine also called on militants to attack 11 public figures in the West, including Rushdie, whose 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was seen by many Muslims as blasphemous.

Among others are Dutch politician Geert Wilders and Canadian-Somalian activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, both strong critics of Islam, and U.S. pastor Terry Jones, who staged a public burning of copies of the Qur'an.