Al-Qaeda magazine calls for attacks on U.S. business magnates

PanARMENIAN.Net - A notorious al-Qaeda magazine is encouraging lone-wolf terrorist attacks on U.S. economic leaders, including Bill Gates, Michael Bloomberg and Warren Buffett, NBC News reports.

The list also included industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch, internet entrepreneur Larry Ellison, and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. A prominent economist was also on the list but asked that his name be withheld. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was named, though not Janet Yellen, who succeeded him.

Also pictured was Jim Walton, one of the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, although he was misidentified in the caption as his late father, Sam Walton. Several other names on the list were misspelled.

The slickly produced magazine article says the "economic personalities" and "wealthy entrepreneurs" can get off the list by withdrawing their money from U.S. banks, investing their wealth outside American soil, and denouncing support for Israel.

Evan Kohlmann of Flashpoint Intelligence, an NBC News counterterrorism analyst, said that while much of the magazine's content is "somewhat aspirational," it has also played a role in actual plots.

"There is compelling evidence from the Boston Marathon bombings and other various thwarted terror plots that homegrown jihadists have specifically looked to the magazine for guidance on what targets to attack — and have taken that advice quite literally," he said.

A senior U.S. intelligence official told NBC News that the article is an example of al Qaeda's newfound focus on lone-wolf attacks, taking a page from ISIS' strategy book.