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112-570: Samantha Louise Lewthwaite ( / ˈ l uː θ w eɪ t / ; born 5 December 1983), also known as Sherafiyah Lewthwaite or the White Widow , is a British terrorist who is one of the Western world's most wanted terrorism suspects. Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 London terrorist bomber Germaine Lindsay , is accused of causing the deaths of more than 400 people. She is a fugitive from justice in Kenya, where she

224-468: A "learning mentor " with the children of immigrant families who had just arrived in Britain. Khan's colleagues commented that he was a quiet individual who did not talk about his religious or political beliefs. However, some acquaintances who worked for the education authority assert that he displayed open anti-British white prejudice, which was glossed over when concerns were raised. Khan was also involved in

336-767: A "stop list" in 2011. Further investigations revealed that Lewthwaite, using the Natalie Webb identity, had worked as an IT specialist at a halal meat factory in Lenasia , Johannesburg , and had lived in rented properties in the Mayfair and Bromhof suburbs of Johannesburg. Credit records showed that Lewthwaite ran up a number of unpaid debts from bank loans, credit cards and clothing store charge accounts in South Africa, including R 28,000 owed to First Rand Bank and R30,000 to Standard Bank . Lewthwaite gave birth to her fourth child,

448-458: A $ 5 million bounty offered for information leading to his capture. The killings were allegedly ordered by Al-Shabaab's chief, Moktar Ali Zubeyr . In October 2013, reports emerged concerning the content of a laptop and flash drive used by Lewthwaite, and subsequently recovered from Mombasa by Kenyan police. A Sky News investigation suggested she had used the computer to research information about bomb-making, as well as hair and beauty tips. Among

560-570: A bar in Mombasa during Euro 2012 . In September 2013, there was speculation over her possible involvement in the Nairobi Westgate shopping mall attack , although other reports cast doubt on this, or said her role had been exaggerated. She was dubbed the "White Widow" by the news media, a play on words referencing her race and the death of her first husband and the practice of referring to Chechen female suicide bombers as "black widows". Lewthwaite

672-607: A bar in Tel Aviv , in April 2003, after possibly being recruited by Hamas in Damascus , Syria. Lewthwaite gave birth to a third child in 2009, but the father was not named on the birth certificate. She is reported to have moved to the north of England, then later to have disappeared with her children, and was believed to be in hiding in Tanzania or Somalia. A later Telegraph report casts doubt on

784-569: A daughter, at a private birthing centre in Johannesburg in July 2010. The Daily Telegraph reported that she registered with the clinic late into her pregnancy, and under the name Asmaa Shahidah Bint-Andrews. She gave birth after attending four prenatal appointments. Anti-terrorism investigators told the newspaper the child's father is believed to be Abdi Wahid, a former Kenyan naval officer who defected to al-Shabaab. In December 2011, Kenyan police raided

896-516: A divine duty with no consideration for political efficacy―their aim is transcendental and "holy terror" constitutes an end in itself. Hoffman's concept has since been taken up and developed by a number of other writers, including Walter Laquer, Steven Simon and Daniel Benjamen, and rebranded as the "New Terrorism". Arguably, the first organization to use modern terrorist techniques was the Irish Republican Brotherhood , founded in 1858 as

1008-544: A military response and welcomed it as a provocation that would result in more Muslims fight the United States. Some commentators believe that the resulting anger and suspicion directed toward innocent Muslims living in Western countries and the indignities inflicted upon them by security forces and the general public also contributes to radicalization of new recruits. Despite criticism that the Iraqi government had no involvement with

1120-554: A particular cause and many of the most deadly operations in recent times, such as the September 11 attacks , the London underground bombing , 2008 Mumbai attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings were planned and carried out by a close clique, composed of close friends, family members and other strong social networks. These groups benefited from the free flow of information and efficient telecommunications to succeed where others had failed. Over

1232-488: A photograph of Lewthwaite. Initial reports indicated that the computer had been smashed, and its hard drive removed, but later reports discussing the laptop's content appeared to contradict this. Police said: "We have no doubt that the woman we are looking for is Samantha Lewthwaite. This is a massive manhunt. We believe she is dangerous and have issued her photograph to all border posts." Fingerprint evidence recovered in Mombasa

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1344-450: A politics and religion degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies , University of London , but dropped out. Lewthwaite's parents separated in 1994, and friends later reported that she was badly affected by the break-up and sought solace from Muslim neighbours who she believed had a stronger family network. Raised as a Christian, by the age of 17 she had converted to Islam. She adopted

1456-412: A property in Mombasa and arrested Jermaine Grant, also known as Ali Mohammed Ibrahim, a 29-year-old British Muslim convert of Jamaican origin from Newham , London. Grant, who was using a forged Canadian passport in the name of Peter Joseph, was charged with possession of bomb-making materials and preparing to commit a felony. In January 2012, police raided the apartment where the woman known as Natalie Webb

1568-491: A religious agenda. Before 2000, it was nationalist separatist terrorist organizations such as the IRA and Chechen rebels who were behind the most attacks. The number of incidents from nationalist separatist groups has remained relatively stable in the years since while religious extremism has grown. The prevalence of Islamist groups in Iraq , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Nigeria and Syria is

1680-545: A revolutionary Irish nationalist group that carried out attacks in England. The group initiated the Fenian dynamite campaign in 1881, one of the first modern terror campaigns. Instead of earlier forms of terrorism based on political assassination, this campaign used timed explosives with the express aim of sowing fear in the very heart of metropolitan Britain , in order to achieve political gains. Another early terrorist-type group

1792-438: A role in the attack. In a Twitter post the group said, "We have an adequate number of young men who are fully committed and we do not employ our sisters in such military operations." On 5 October, Kenyan authorities named four people believed to have participated in the attack, all of whom they said were killed in the ensuing standoff with the country's military forces. Police chief David Kimaiyo also confirmed that Lewthwaite

1904-571: A shopping mall in Nairobi." Grant was also alleged to have voluntarily given up the identity of Lewthwaite, telling police officers: "There is someone much bigger you really want; she is the financier." In March 2012, following a request from the Kenyan authorities, Interpol issued an international alert requesting the arrest and extradition of Lewthwaite. In April 2019, Grant was convicted of possession of bomb-making materials, but acquitted of conspiracy to commit

2016-402: A single, all-encompassing, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism. These difficulties arise from the fact that the term "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged. The international community has instead adopted a series of sectoral conventions that define and criminalize various types of terrorist activities. Counterterrorism analyst Bruce Hoffman has noted that it

2128-683: A soldier. Now you too will taste the reality of this situation." Born in St James's University Hospital, Leeds , Khan grew up in Beeston but moved to Lees Holm in Dewsbury , near Leeds in early 2005. His father, Tika Khan, a foundry worker, was born in Pakistan. His mother is Mamida Begum. He received his secondary education at South Leeds High School , formerly the Matthew Murray High School, which

2240-412: A strategic tool to influence decision makers. By targeting densely populated public areas such as transportation hubs, airports, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and nightlife venues, terrorists aim to instill widespread insecurity, prompting policy changes through psychological manipulation and undermining confidence in security measures. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during

2352-437: A successful high-profile attack. The attacks prompted some criticism from domestic and international observers regarding perceived injustices in U.S. foreign policy that provoked the attacks, but the larger practical effect was that the United States government declared a War on Terror that resulted in substantial military engagements in several Muslim-majority countries. Various commentators have inferred that al-Qaeda expected

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2464-669: A tactic because it can: Attacks on "collaborators" are used to intimidate people from cooperating with the state in order to undermine state control. This strategy was used in Ireland, in Kenya , in Algeria and in Cyprus during their independence struggles. Stated motives for the September 11 attacks included inspiring more fighters to join the cause of repelling the United States from Muslim countries with

2576-479: A terrorist act. In July 2012, she was named as one of the suspects involved in a 24 June 2012 grenade attack on the Jericho bar in Mombasa. The attack took place during a Euro 2012 football match between England and Italy. Kenyan police said a woman matching Lewthwaite's description was seen near the bar shortly before the attack in which three people were killed and 25 injured. Police said: "We suspect Samantha Lewthwaite

2688-435: A train travelling between King's Cross and Russell Square tube stations. He killed 26 civilians in his suicide attack . Lewthwaite was eight months pregnant with their second child, a daughter, at the time of his death, and their first child, a son, was 14 months old. Lewthwaite reported her husband missing six days after the bombing by telephoning a helpline set up for families of the victims. She denied prior knowledge of

2800-470: A universally accepted, legally binding definition. Title 18 of the United States Code defines terrorism as acts that are intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or government. The international community has been slow to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding definition of this crime, and has been unable to conclude a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that incorporates

2912-428: A victim and her husband as a "relatively recent [convert]" who had been "tricked into his actions by extremists", to tabloid newspaper The Sun for £30,000. The Independent reported that Lewthwaite's account conflicted with evidence from Lindsay's sister that he had actually converted to Islam aged 15, and said that families of the victims were "unconvinced by her portrait of the bomber", while her "attempts to share

3024-459: A videotape emerged featuring Khan. The videotape, shown by Al Jazeera Television, also shows Ayman al-Zawahiri , who was the highest leader of al-Qaeda . The two men do not appear together, and the British government says that al-Qaeda was not connected with the bombing. The Home Office believes the tape was edited after the suicide attacks and dismisses it as evidence of al-Qaeda's involvement. In

3136-665: A woman wearing a burqa . He and two other men, also wearing burqas, were allegedly travelling to meet an Al-Qaeda leader. Six hours after their arrest, a group of 20 Al-Shabaab fighters freed all three men after storming the Dadajbula police post where they were being held. One of the other two men is believed to have been Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan , later killed by US Navy SEALs in Operation Celestial Balance , an attack against an Al-Qaeda training camp in Somalia in 2009. A woman who

3248-517: Is a collaborator with terrorists. Our understanding is she was working with people here, al-Qaeda or al-Shabaab people. She is a very big sympathiser with those people. She was not going to carry out an attack, but she helped to fundraise, helped in the acquisition of weapons, hiding people, transporting people, that kind of thing." Examination of the recovered passport showed that the woman first entered Kenya from Tanzania on 26 February 2011, re-entered on 25 August 2011, and again on 21 November 2011. She

3360-549: Is also involved in education and works as a council liaison officer at a school in Dewsbury. In 1998, she was the first Asian woman to be invited to a Buckingham Palace garden party, meeting Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the royal family in recognition for her work amongst the Muslim community in Dewsbury, and again in 2004. She was said to have been "devastated" by the actions of her son-in-law. Mohammad Sidique Khan postponed

3472-575: Is aware of in relation to terrorists' plans to attack us." The woman had entered Kenya in November 2011 using the passport and then joined other members of the cell in Mombasa . The real Natalie Webb was discovered to be an English nurse living in the home counties who had been the victim of identity theft . A "large team" of detectives from SO15, the Metropolitan Police Service 's Counter Terrorism Command , travelled to Nairobi to assist with

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3584-511: Is not only individual agencies within the same governmental apparatus that cannot agree on a single definition of terrorism; experts and other long-established scholars in the field are equally incapable of reaching a consensus. In 1992, terrorism studies scholar Alex P. Schmid proposed a simple definition to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) as "peacetime equivalents of war crimes", but it

3696-506: Is politically charged and over-simplified. The underlying historical assertions have received less critical attention. According to The Oxford Handbook on the History of Terrorism : Since the publication of Rapoport's article, it has become seemingly pre-requisite for standard works on terrorism to cite the three case studies and to reproduce uncritically its findings. In lieu of empirical research, authors tend to crudely paraphrase Rapoport and

3808-405: Is reviving in new and unusual forms". He is the first to propose that religious doctrines were more important than political rationales for some terrorist groups. Rapoport's work has since become the basis of the model of "New Terrorism" proposed by Bruce Hoffman and developed by other scholars. "New Terrorism" has had an unparalleled impact on policymaking. Critics have pointed out that the model

3920-470: Is usually accompanied by anti-government sentiments. Adherents of Christian Identity are not connected with specific Christian denominations , and they believe that whites of European descent can be traced back to the " Lost Tribes of Israel ". Adherents have committed hate crimes , bombings and other acts of terrorism, including the Centennial Olympic Park bombing . Its influence ranges from

4032-507: Is wanted on charges of possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony and is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice requesting her arrest with a view to extradition . Lewthwaite is alleged to be a member of the Somalia-based radical Islamic militant group Al-Shabaab . She is accused of orchestrating grenade attacks at non-Muslim places of worship, and is believed to have been behind an attack on those watching football in

4144-514: The 2002 Bali bombing . According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv , Khan travelled to Israel on 19 February 2003, staying only one night and leaving the next day. Maariv reports that he was suspected of having helped to plan the 30 April 2003 suicide bombing of the Mike's Place bar in Tel Aviv which killed three Israelis, carried out by two British citizens. The Israeli government allegedly played down

4256-652: The CIA wanted to let Khan into the US so that the FBI could put him under surveillance, but the FBI resisted on grounds that, as one FBI case agent stated, "We just can't take the risk ... he goes up and blows up a temple in Washington." US government officials put Khan on a no-fly list to prevent him from entering the country. Suskind was critical of the decision, which the author suggested tipped him off to

4368-873: The Hamas Charter 's apparent advocacy of genocidal aspirations . In the periods of 1994–1996 and 2001–2007, Hamas orchestrated a series of suicide bombings , primarily directed at civilian targets in Israel, killing over 1,000 Israeli civilians. Five of the terrorist groups that have been most active since 2001 are Hamas, Boko Haram , al-Qaeda , the Taliban and ISIL . These groups have been most active in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria. Eighty percent of all deaths from terrorism occurred in these five countries. In 2015 four Islamic extremist groups were responsible for 74% of all deaths from Islamic terrorism: ISIS , Boko Haram,

4480-498: The Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups to the anti-government militia and sovereign citizen movements . Terrorist acts frequently have a political purpose based on self-determination claims, ethnonationalist frustrations, single issue causes (like abortion or the environment), or other ideological or religious causes that terrorists claim are a moral justification for their violent acts. Individuals and groups choose terrorism as

4592-1208: The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in pre-war Poland , the Shining Path in Peru under Alberto Fujimori , the Kurdistan Workers Party when Turkey was ruled by military leaders and the ANC in South Africa. According to Boaz Ganor, "Modern terrorism sees the liberal democratic state, in all its variations, as the perfect launching pad and a target for its attacks. Moreover, some terrorist organizations—particularly Islamist-jihadist organizations—have chosen to cynically exploit democratic values and institutions to gain power and status, promote their interests, and achieve internal and international legitimacy". Jihadist militants have shown an ambivalent view towards democracy, as they both exploit it for their ends and oppose it in their ideology. Various quotes from jihadist leaders note their disdain for democracy and their efforts to undermine it in favor of Islamic rule. Democracies, such as Japan,

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4704-747: The Palestinian airplane hijackings in 1970 and the 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis . Specific political or social causes have included: Causes for right-wing terrorism have included white nationalism , ethnonationalism , fascism, anti-socialism, the anti-abortion movement , and tax resistance . Sometimes terrorists on the same side fight for different reasons. For example, in the Chechen–Russian conflict secular Chechens using terrorist tactics fighting for national independence are allied with radical Islamist terrorists who have arrived from other countries. Various personal and social factors may influence

4816-567: The Southern Poverty Law Center released a report on domestic terrorism in the United States. The report (titled The Age of the Wolf ) analyzed 62 incidents and found that, between 2009 and 2015, "more people have been killed in America by non-Islamic domestic terrorists than jihadists ." The "virulent racist and antisemitic " ideology of the ultra-right wing Christian Identity movement

4928-592: The University of Maryland, College Park , has recorded more than 61,000 incidents of non-state terrorism, resulting in at least 140,000 deaths between 2000 and 2014. Various organizations have used terrorism to achieve their objectives. These include left-wing and right-wing political organizations, nationalist groups , religious groups , revolutionaries , and ruling governments . In recent decades, hybrid terrorist organizations have emerged, incorporating both military and political arms. The term "terrorism" itself

5040-720: The 16th century has also been described as a reign of terror. The terms "terrorism" and "terrorist" gained renewed currency in the 1970s as a result of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Basque separatist group, ETA , and the operations of groups such as the Red Army Faction . Leila Khaled was described as a terrorist in a 1970 issue of Life magazine. A number of books on terrorism were published in

5152-427: The 1970s. The topic came further to the fore after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings and again after the 2001 September 11 attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings . No definition of terrorism has gained universal agreement. Challenges emerge due to the politically and emotionally charged nature of the term, the double standards used in applying it, and disagreement over the nature of terrorist acts and limits of

5264-456: The 2,000 files on the hardware was a downloaded document titled The Mujahideen Explosives Handbook , and Ode to Osama , a poem allegedly written by Lewthwaite which pays tribute to the founder of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden . On 4 January 2012, Kenyan authorities issued an arrest warrant for Lewthwaite to answer charges of possessing bomb-making material and conspiring to make an explosive device with

5376-545: The Al-Shabaab militant group. In February 2012, anti-terrorist police in Nairobi , Kenya, issued an arrest warrant for a white woman using the false name of Natalie Faye Webb. The white woman was known to have used a fraudulently obtained South African passport. After liaising with Scotland Yard , they said that the woman was known to be using at least three separate identities that included her true identity, Samantha Lewthwaite, and

5488-646: The French Revolution of the late 18th century but became widely used internationally and gained worldwide attention in the 1970s during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Basque conflict and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the 2001 September 11 attacks in the United States. The Global Terrorism Database , maintained by

5600-619: The Middle East. Their activities in Lebanon during the 1980s garnered support among local Shiites , leading to the rise of smaller terrorist groups, notably the Islamic Jihad . Hamas , the main Islamist movement in the Palestinian territories , was formed by Palestinian imam Ahmed Yassin in 1987. Some scholars, including constitutional law professor Alexander Tsesis , have voiced concerns over

5712-541: The September 11 attacks, Bush declared the 2003 invasion of Iraq to be part of the War on Terror. The resulting backlash and instability enabled the rise of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the temporary creation of an Islamic caliphate holding territory in Iraq and Syria, until ISIL lost its territory through military defeats. Attacks used to draw international attention to struggles that are otherwise unreported have included

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5824-555: The Social Defense Against Anarchists , the first international conference against terrorism . According to Bruce Hoffman of the RAND Corporation , in 1980, 2 out of 64 terrorist groups were categorized as having religious motivation while in 1995, almost half (26 out of 56) were religiously motivated with the majority having Islam as their guiding force. Depending on the country, the political system, and

5936-562: The South African Minister of Home Affairs , issued a statement saying that the passport had been "fraudulently acquired" using birth registration documents in the name of Natalie Faye Webb, and had been issued by the passport agency in Durban . Pandor said that they had determined that Lewthwaite first entered South Africa in July 2008 and "travelled in and out of the country on several occasions". The passport had been cancelled and added to

6048-669: The Taliban, and al-Qaeda, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2016. Since approximately 2000, these incidents have occurred on a global scale, affecting not only Muslim-majority states in Africa and Asia, but also states with non-Muslim majority such as United States , United Kingdom , France , Germany , Spain , Belgium , Sweden , Russia , Australia , Canada , Sri Lanka , Israel , China , India and Philippines . Such attacks have targeted both Muslims and non-Muslims, however

6160-532: The Task Force staff. The Task Force defines terrorism as "a tactic or technique by means of which a violent act or the threat thereof is used for the prime purpose of creating overwhelming fear for coercive purposes". It classified disorders and terrorism into seven categories: Other sources have defined the typology of terrorism in different ways, for example, broadly classifying it into domestic terrorism and international terrorism , or using categories such as vigilante terrorism or insurgent terrorism. Some ways

6272-443: The United Kingdom, the United States , Israel , Indonesia , India , Spain , Germany , Italy and the Philippines , have all experienced domestic terrorism. While a democratic nation espousing civil liberties may claim a sense of higher moral ground than other regimes, an act of terrorism within such a state may cause a dilemma: whether to maintain its civil liberties and thus risk being perceived as ineffective in dealing with

6384-440: The age—such as the invention of dynamite, which they were the first anarchist group to make widespread use of —enabled them to strike directly and with discrimination. In 1920 Leon Trotsky wrote Terrorism and Communism to justify the Red Terror and defend the moral superiority of revolutionary terrorism . The assassination of the Empress of Austria Elisabeth in 1898 resulted in the International Conference of Rome for

6496-449: The apparent intention of visiting a Kenyan army base in Somalia. The woman then allegedly disappeared after immigration officials denied her entry into the country. However, Lamu Police Commander Leonard Omollo denied the allegations, indicating that the woman in question had been identified as a Spanish tourist who had since returned home. By February 2022 her uncle said that he thought she was dead, while two security analysts have said she

6608-417: The assumed relevance of "Thuggee" to the study of modern terrorism is taken for granted. Yet the significance of the article is not simply a matter of citations―it has also provided the foundation for what has become known as the "New Terrorism" paradigm. While Rapoport did not suggest which late 20th century groups might exemplify the implied recurrence of "holy terror", Bruce Hoffman, recognized today as one of

6720-412: The attacks and said: I totally condemn and am horrified by the atrocities. I am the wife of Germaine Lindsay, and never predicted or imagined that he was involved in such horrific activities. He was a loving husband and father. I am trying to come to terms with the recent events. My whole world has fallen apart, and my thoughts are with the families of the victims of this incomprehensible devastation. She

6832-452: The blame with others obscured the murder of innocent commuters". The Yorkshire Post said: "For very good and obvious reasons, there is a law against any criminal profiting from his illegal activities by selling his story to a newspaper. And while the letter of the law has not been broken on this occasion—Ms Lewthwaite is not a criminal—its spirit has clearly been breached." The Daily Telegraph reported in September 2013 that Lewthwaite

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6944-399: The children. We have not had any contact with her for some time, I haven't spoken to her for a long time. I don't know if she's in this country or where she is. She has a lot of friends up north but she does not have much to do with us. I don't even know the name of her latest child." Alfred Mutua , the Kenyan Government Spokesperson and Public Communications Secretary, said, "We believe she

7056-419: The community-run Hamara Healthy Living Centre in Beeston, and worked at its youth outreach project, the Hamara Youth Access Point (HYAP). Staff at the centre have confirmed that two of the London bombers, Shehzad Tanweer and Hasib Hussain, frequented the HYAP. Khan used the outreach project as a recruitment centre, according to a friend of his who spoke to The Guardian . His mother-in-law , Farida Patel,

7168-418: The context of war against non-combatants . There are various different definitions of terrorism , with no universal agreement about it. Different definitions of terrorism emphasize its randomness , its aim to instill fear , and its broader impact beyond its immediate victims. Modern terrorism, evolving from earlier iterations, employs various tactics to pursue political goals, often leveraging fear as

7280-452: The event from 6 July 2005 because he had to take his pregnant wife to the hospital. On the morning of 7 July 2005, Khan travelled by car with his three accomplices to Luton in Bedfordshire , from where they caught a train to London King's Cross railway station . From there, Khan entered the London Underground and boarded a Circle Line train heading west, travelling four stops to Edgware Road . The bomb detonated at 8.50 a.m., just as

7392-414: The fact that he was known to US authorities and might have caused him to be more cautious with his communication to avoid further surveillance. British intelligence sources and circumstantial evidence suggested that this theory may have resulted from a confusion between two different Mohammed Khans, although it seems that Suskind stood by his claim. According to David Leppard in The Sunday Times , Khan

7504-422: The film, Khan declares, "I and thousands like me have forsaken everything for what we believe" and refers to his expectation that the media would already have painted a picture of him in accordance with government "spin". He goes on to say, "Your democratically elected governments continually perpetrate atrocities against my people all over the world. Your support makes you directly responsible. We are at war and I am

7616-422: The intent to harm others. The charges were not made public until May 2012, when Jacob Ondari, Kenya's assistant director of public prosecutions, announced: "Samantha Lewthwaite was charged in absentia and a warrant of arrest issued against her." Kenyan police revealed that when Grant was arrested in December 2011, the group was only days away from committing an attack. The target was either "a hotel in Mombasa or

7728-456: The investigation and attempts were launched to locate Lewthwaite in Britain. The police initially said that they could not confirm that the woman was definitely Lewthwaite "unless and until she is captured" and said, "Samantha Lewthwaite is one of the names in our records. She had three children with her. She was connected to the terror group." Lewthwaite's father said, "I cannot believe she would be involved in something like this and be there with

7840-409: The main antagonists in 24: Live Another Day Margot Al Hazari (who is known in the show as the Yorkshire Widow ) was partially based on that of Lewthwaite. Terrorist Terrorism , in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in

7952-443: The main driver behind these trends. The emergence of Hezbollah in 1982 marked a pivotal moment in terrorism's history. The Shiite Islamist group, rooted in Lebanon , drew inspiration from the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 's teachings , responding to the 1982 Lebanon War . Beyond pursuing revolutionary goals, Hezbollah members were deeply concerned about the social conditions of Shiite communities across

8064-515: The majority affect Muslims themselves. Terrorism in Pakistan has become a great problem. From the summer of 2007 until late 2009, more than 1,500 people were killed in suicide and other attacks on civilians for reasons attributed to a number of causes—sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia Muslims ; easy availability of guns and explosives; the existence of a " Kalashnikov culture"; an influx of ideologically driven Muslims based in or near Pakistan , who originated from various nations around

8176-564: The marriage to Ghani. Quoting anti-terrorist police in Kenya, the newspaper said in October 2013 that there was "no romantic relationship between the two", but that they were linked through their "associates in the same cell in Mombasa, that was intending to set off bombs in December 2011". In May 2014, the Daily Mirror reported that Lewthwaite had married Hassan Maalim Ibrahim, a senior commander with

8288-661: The name Sherafiyah at the time of her conversion. She met Germaine Lindsay on the Internet and arranged to meet him at a Stop the War march in Hyde Park , London; they married in Aylesbury on 30 October 2002, using the Islamic names Asmantara and Jamal. Lewthwaite's parents, who "never came to terms with their daughter's conversion", refused to attend the ceremony. Three years later, at 8:50 a.m. on 7 July 2005, Lindsay blew himself up on

8400-653: The personal choice of whether to join a terrorist group or attempt an act of terror, including: A report conducted by Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert found that for "lone wolf" terrorists: Ariel Merari , a psychologist who has studied the psychological profiles of suicide terrorists since 1983 through media reports that contained biographical details, interviews with the suicides' families, and interviews with jailed would-be suicide attackers , concluded that they were unlikely to be psychologically abnormal. In comparison to economic theories of criminal behaviour, Scott Atran found that suicide terrorists exhibit none of

8512-451: The populace. To avoid detection, a terrorist will look, dress, and behave normally until executing the assigned mission. Some claim that attempts to profile terrorists based on personality, physical, or sociological traits are not useful. The physical and behavioral description of the terrorist could describe almost any normal person. The majority of terrorist attacks are carried out by military age men, aged 16 to 40. Groups not part of

8624-411: The problem; or alternatively to restrict its civil liberties and thus risk delegitimizing its claim of supporting civil liberties. For this reason, homegrown terrorism has started to be seen as a greater threat, as stated by former CIA Director Michael Hayden. This dilemma, some social theorists would conclude, may very well play into the initial plans of the acting terrorist(s); namely, to delegitimize

8736-564: The propaganda tactics used by terrorists. Some security organizations designate these groups as violent non-state actors . A 2007 study by economist Alan B. Krueger found that terrorists were less likely to come from an impoverished background (28 percent versus 33 percent) and more likely to have at least a high-school education (47 percent versus 38 percent). Another analysis found only 16 percent of terrorists came from impoverished families, versus 30 percent of male Palestinians, and over 60 percent had gone beyond high school, versus 15 percent of

8848-535: The report. According to Ron Suskind 's The One Percent Doctrine , the NSA had been monitoring phone calls and emails between Khan and several Islamic radicals from the United States and England, including Ahmed Omar Abu Ali . Just prior to Khan's planned trip to the US, NSA intercepted email exchanges between him and some of his associates discussing a desire to "blow up synagogues on the East Coast". According to Suskind,

8960-455: The right to self-determination . Harvard law professor Richard Baxter , a leading expert on the law of war, was a skeptic: "We have cause to regret that a legal concept of 'terrorism' was ever inflicted upon us. The term is imprecise; it is ambiguous; and above all, it serves no operative legal purpose." Different legal systems and government agencies employ diverse definitions of terrorism, with governments showing hesitation in establishing

9072-608: The secular Irgun were among the Zionist groups labelled as terrorist organisations by the British authorities and United Nations , for violent terror attacks against Britons and Arabs. Another extremist group, the Lehi , openly declared its members as "terrorists". Historian William Cleveland stated many Jews justified any action, even terrorism, taken in the cause of the creation of a Jewish state. In 1995, Yigal Amir assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin . For Amir, killing Rabin

9184-600: The socially dysfunctional attributes—such as fatherless, friendless, jobless situations—or suicidal symptoms. By which he means, they do not kill themselves simply out of hopelessness or a sense of 'having nothing to lose'. Abrahm suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness. Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined. Michael Mousseau shows possible relationships between

9296-469: The state and cause a systematic shift towards anarchy via the accumulation of negative sentiments towards the state system. The perpetrators of acts of terrorism can be individuals, groups, or states. According to some definitions, clandestine or semi-clandestine state actors may carry out terrorist acts outside the framework of a state of war. The most common image of terrorism is that it is carried out by small and secretive cells , highly motivated to serve

9408-789: The state apparatus of in opposition to the state are most commonly referred to as a "terrorist" in the media. According to the Global Terrorism Database, the most active terrorist group in the period 1970 to 2010 was Shining Path (with 4,517 attacks), followed by Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), Irish Republican Army (IRA), Basque Fatherland and Freedom (ETA), Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Taliban , Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , New People's Army , National Liberation Army of Colombia (ELN), and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Israel has had problems with religious terrorism even before independence in 1948. During British mandate over Palestine ,

9520-619: The time in history, the types of terrorism are varying. In early 1975, the Law Enforcement Assistant Administration in the United States formed the National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals. One of the five volumes that the committee wrote was titled Disorders and Terrorism , produced by the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism under the direction of H. H. A. Cooper, Director of

9632-549: The train was pulling out of Edgware Road station, killing six victims that were also British. Personal documents of Khan's were found on the train. Khan is alleged to have travelled regularly to Dubai to attend military training camps, and is also believed to have spent time in Israel. In 2001, Khan was alleged to have learned bomb-making at the Malakand training camp . He is also alleged to have trained with Indonesian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah and to be directly involved with

9744-614: The transcript of the tape. US intelligence officials have said that Khan was known to Mohammed Junaid Babar , who has pleaded guilty in the US to providing material support to al-Qaeda . Babar, who told investigators that he worked on a plan to blow up pubs, railway stations, and restaurants in the UK, identified Khan as someone he had met in Pakistan. On 18 July 2005, the Pakistani government released video footage of Khan arriving at Dubai airport on 19 November 2004 with Shehzad Tanweer, another of

9856-491: The type of economy within a country and ideology associated with terrorism. Many terrorists have a history of domestic violence. Terrorism is most common in nations with intermediate political freedom, and it is least common in the most democratic nations. Some examples of terrorism in non-democratic nations include ETA in Spain under Francisco Franco (although the group's activities increased sharply after Franco's death),

9968-424: The typology of terrorism may be defined are: According to the Global Terrorism Index by the University of Maryland, College Park , religious extremism has overtaken national separatism and become the main driver of terrorist attacks around the world. Since 9/11 there has been a five-fold increase in deaths from terrorist attacks. The majority of incidents over the past several years can be tied to groups with

10080-572: The world and the subsequent war against the pro-Soviet Afghans in the 1980s which blew back into Pakistan; the presence of Islamist insurgent groups and forces such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. On July 2, 2013, in Lahore , 50 Muslim scholars of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) issued a collective fatwa against suicide bombings, the killing of innocent people, bomb attacks, and targeted killings declaring them as Haraam or forbidden. In 2015,

10192-437: The world's leading terrorism experts, did not hesitate to do so. A decade after Rapoport's article. Hoffman picked up the mantle and taking the three case studies as inspiration, he formulated a model of contemporary "holy terror" or, as he defined it, "terrorism motivated by a religious imperative". Completely distinct from "secular terrorists", Hoffman argued that "religious terrorists" carry out indiscriminate acts of violence as

10304-517: The years, much research has been conducted to distill a terrorist profile to explain these individuals' actions through their psychology and socio-economic circumstances. Some specialists highlight the lack of evidence supporting the idea that terrorists are typically psychologically disturbed. The careful planning and detailed execution seen in many terrorist acts are not characteristics generally associated with mentally unstable individuals. Others, like Roderick Hindery, have sought to discern profiles in

10416-451: Was Narodnaya Volya , founded in Russia in 1878 as a revolutionary anarchist group inspired by Sergei Nechayev and " propaganda by the deed " theorist Carlo Pisacane . The group developed ideas—such as targeted killing of the 'leaders of oppression', which were to become the hallmark of subsequent violence by small non-state groups, and they were convinced that the developing technologies of

10528-638: Was a modern phenomenon until David C. Rapoport published his seminal article Fear and Trembling: Terrorism in Three Religious Traditions in 1984. Rapoport proposed three case studies to demonstrate "ancient lineage" of religious terrorism, which he called "sacred terror": the "Thugs" , the Assassins and the Jewish Sicarii Zealots . Rapoport argued religious terrorism has been ongoing since ancient times and that "there are signs that it

10640-419: Was accompanied by three children. The woman was wanted in connection with links to an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell planning attacks in Kenya in reprisal for anti-terrorism operations being conducted in Somalia. The photograph of the woman in the passport bore "a strong likeness to Samantha Lewthwaite”. The police said, "We believe she is not a small fish. She is among several Britons that our intelligence service

10752-534: Was actively involved in the terrorist attack on the club." Lewthwaite's name was linked with the September 2013 attack claimed by Al-Shabaab on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi , which left 71 dead and approximately 200 injured. Despite intense media speculation, these reports were viewed with caution by UK government officials, and there was no confirmation of Lewthwaite's involvement as an attacker, organiser or fundraiser. Al-Shabaab itself claimed no women played

10864-496: Was also attended by Hasib Hussain , another 7 July bus bomber. After completing his secondary education, he attended Leeds Metropolitan University as a business major. It was during his time at university that he met his wife Hasina Patel and first became interested in extremist Islam. Khan had a daughter. In 1999, he came under the influence of radical cleric Abdullah el-Faisal . Khan worked at Hillside Primary School in Leeds as

10976-473: Was an exemplary act that symbolized the fight against an illegitimate government that was prepared to cede Jewish Holy Land to the Palestinians. Members of Kach , a Jewish ultranationalist party, employed terrorist tactics in pursuit of what they viewed as religious imperatives. Israel and a few other countries have designated the party as a terrorist group. Mohammad Sidique Khan On 1 September 2005,

11088-464: Was assessed by MI5 in 2004, after his name appeared during an investigation into a plan to detonate a 600-lb truck bomb in London. MI5 concluded that Khan's link to the plotters was indirect, and he was not placed under surveillance . MI5 was later criticised for failing to follow up leads relating to Khan. The service responded to the criticisms. Channel 4 News published what it said were excerpts from

11200-648: Was born to parents Andrew and Elizabeth Christine ( née Allen) Lewthwaite in Banbridge , County Down in 1983. Her father is a former British Army soldier who served in the 9th/12th Royal Lancers and had met her mother while he was stationed in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Following her birth the family lived for a short period in Northern Ireland, where her father worked as a lorry driver, before settling in Aylesbury , England. She attended Elmhurst middle school and The Grange secondary school in Aylesbury. She studied for

11312-460: Was most likely being sheltered at a remote location in Somalia or Tanzania. The character of Susan Helen Danford who serves as an antagonist in the action thriller film Eye in the Sky was said to have been strongly inspired by Lewthwaite with the character being a radicalized white convert to Islam, the wife of a notorious Islamist terrorist and a coordinator of terrorist attacks. The backstory of one of

11424-454: Was not accepted. In 2006, it was estimated that there were over 109 different definitions of terrorism. Early published studies like Paul Wilkinson considered terrorism a product of 19th-century revolutionary politics. Technological developments like the pistol and dynamite made possible the relentless onslaught of successful attacks and assassinations that shook the 19th-century. Scholars of terrorism had largely assumed that terrorism

11536-448: Was not among those involved in the incident. In June 2014, the BBC reported that well-placed security sources indicated that they had reliable information that Lewthwaite was in Kenya, and that they had launched a large operation to find her. According to reports, an unknown woman, who was believed to be Lewthwaite, was escorted by armed Kenyan police officers in the coastal town of Lamu , with

11648-590: Was originally used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the " Reign of Terror " in the French Revolution . "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible", said Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre . In 1795, Edmund Burke denounced the Jacobins for letting "thousands of those hell-hounds called Terrorists ... loose on the people" of France. John Calvin 's rule over Geneva in

11760-424: Was placed in protective custody in a police 'safe house' after an attempt to set fire to her home in the immediate aftermath of the bombings. At the inquest into the bombings, it was disclosed that Lewthwaite had associated with Mohammad Sidique Khan , the ringleader of the London bombers, before the attacks. In September 2005, Lewthwaite was widely criticised for selling her story, in which she portrayed herself as

11872-632: Was placed under surveillance by Kenyan police after moving into an apartment in Mombasa belonging to the former wife of terrorist financier Musa Hussein Abdi. Abdi had been killed along with Fazul Abdullah Mohammed , the leader of Al-Qaeda in East Africa, by Somali Armed Forces near Mogadishu , Somalia, in June 2011, and was believed to have been a key player in the funding of Al-Shabaab. Following renewed publicity about Lewthwaite's activities in 2013, Naledi Pandor ,

11984-409: Was reportedly killed in al-Baate, southern Somalia, in September 2013 following an internal feud within the organisation. Ghani and American jihadist Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki were shot dead by Al-Shabaab fighters who had been tracking down and killing allies and supporters of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys , who split from Al-Shabaab in June 2013. Al-Amriki was on the FBI 's Most Wanted Terrorists list with

12096-646: Was sent to Scotland Yard and confirmed to be a match with those of Samantha Lewthwaite. Kenyan police said: "Samantha Lewthwaite's fingerprints have been confirmed by detectives we have been working with from the UK... We are confident we are looking for the White Widow." The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned: "We believe that terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks. Attacks could be indiscriminate and target Kenyan institutions as well as places where expatriates and foreign travellers gather, such as hotels, shopping centres and beaches." Ghani

12208-511: Was staying but she had already fled. The terror cell was believed to be planning attacks targeting hotels and tourists in Mombasa during Christmas 2011. When questioned by police Grant identified the woman as the leader of the cell and confirmed that she was Samantha Lewthwaite. Kenyan police revealed Grant was already known to them after being arrested in the Dadaab refugee camp in northern Kenya in 2008 while attempting to travel to Somalia disguised as

12320-466: Was subsequently believed to have met and married Habib Saleh Ghani, who was born in Hounslow , London in 1985. Ghani, also known as Abu Usama al-Pakistani , first moved to Kenya in 2007, where his mother was born. His father immigrated to Britain from Pakistan. Ghani was a contemporary of Asif Mohammed Hanif at Hounslow Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre. Hanif killed himself and three others at "Mike's Place",

12432-416: Was using a forged Mozambique passport in the name of Marco Costa and told the landlord that Lewthwaite was his wife. A neighbour said: "We knew her as 'the white woman' who was very secretive. She went to the mosque a lot and would not let her children attend school." When police searched the property they found a laptop computer, magazines for an AK-47 assault rifle , 100 rounds of ammunition, detonators and

12544-476: Was with the group at the time of their arrest but not detained was subsequently identified by Kenyan police as Lewthwaite. In March 2012, it was disclosed that the CIA had joined the search for Lewthwaite along with Habib Saleh Ghani who had fled at the same time. The two were identified from photographs as having rented a property near to the exclusive Mombasa Serena Beach Hotel and Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort, which police suspected they planned to target. Ghani

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