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More on the GSPC communique from yesterday ...
The largest Islamic extremist group active in Algeriaâs civil war has for the first time officially announced a formal link with Al Qaeda, the global network led by Osama bin Laden.Thereby confirming what most of us should have already known ... The Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) announced its allegiance to Al Qaeda in a brief statement obtained by AFP on Wednesday, which was dated September 11, 2003. "The GSPC announces to the world in general and to Muslims in particular its allegiance to all Muslims and to fighting to the glory of God in Palestine and in Afghanistan under the direction of Mullah Omar [the spiritual leader of the Taliban] and of the Al Qaeda organisation of Osama bin Laden," the statement said. September 11, 2003? Did it travel by camel to AFP? All kidding aside, if the date is accurate and not simply for symbolic value that would mean that the GSPC folded back into al-Qaeda the same time as the Yemeni and Saudi groups that also merged with it and that weâre only hearing about it now. On October 14, Algerian newspapers reported that GSPC founding leader Hassan Hattab had been replaced as leader by Nabil Sahraoui, alias Abou Ibrahim Mustapha, also a founding member of the organisation. Four days later a media report claimed the report was untrue and that Hattab was still active in northeast Algeria. Lies, all lies! That would mean that either Sahraoui is running the show and somebody hasnât gotten the memo yet (the communique was in his name) or that some kind of power struggle is going on inside the GSPC between Sahraoui and Hattab, possibly over the recent Algerian attacks on the GSPC HQ. Sahraoui is said to be al-Qaedaâs sock puppet in Algeria (which is pretty much what I always considered Hattab to be), so if there was a falling out God willing theyâll wipe each other out. Posted by: Dan Darling 2003-10-23 |
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