Al Qaeda hoped ‘angry Irish’ might turn to Islam

Al Qaeda discussed trying to convert Irish people to Islam because of their disenchantment with the Catholic Church over the child abuse scandals and also anger over the economic crisis.

Details of the plan emerged in a letter from American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn to an unidentified recipient. The correspondence was found in the house in Pakistan where al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was shot dead by US forces last year.

“I was — in response to those directives and after consulting brother Ubayd — starting to prepare a message to the Irish and I started searching for the information and materials necessary for that to be collected,” Gadahn wrote.