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Al-Qaeda continues propaganda push
[MAGHAREBIA] With turbulent conditions across North Africa, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb is trying to take advantage of the situation by stepping up its multimedia campaign.Last Thursday (June 27th), al-Andalus Media Productions aired an audio and video news bulletin entitled "Monthly Report of AQIM". The piece recorded 3 days earlier contained a summary of recent terror tapes and a full report on recent al-Qaeda operations in Sahel-Saharan countries. It also drew attention to the terror network's new Twitter account and AQIM blog. The new video sought to target citizens by using the terrorist organization's own "country names", such as al-Manara [i.e. Mauritania] and Kairouan [i.e. Tunisia]. The list included an admonition to Ennahda in Tunisia by Algerian AQIM leader Sheikh Abu Abdulillah Ahmed al-Jijeli. Mauritanian Abu Yahya al-Chinguetti also delivered an address to the people of Tunisia urging them to support Sharia. Other propaganda messages were aimed at audiences in Mauritania and Mali while Sheikh al-Jijeli wrote an article where he railed against the Algerian government. The most prominent points in the latest recorded message focused on addressing the political regime in Tunisia, represented by Ennahda, according to Islamion.com. The message also included a repetition of what Sheikh al-Jijeli said when he confirmed that the group would adhere to the recommendations of Ayman al-  Zawahiri... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit.Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... not to target post-revolution governments, extend a hand of co-operation with them to apply Sharia, "liberate" Mohammedan countries and consider the country of Kairouan as land of preaching. The sheikh then demanded Ennahda review its policies towards the group and to apply Sharia. Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... he warned it of the consequences of injustice. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... the spokesperson for the terrorist organization said al-Qaeda was prepared to discuss any issue with Ennahda and reiterated their support of Ansar al-Sharia ...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... and other radical groups. Although AQIM's intervention in Maghreb politics is not new, the latest bulletin carries symbolic connotations that may be different from previous connotations, said Sid Ahmed Ould Tfeil, an expert in salafist groups' ideology. "Al-Qaeda's speech and its various statements are only a political, security manoeuvre that mainly targets the political elite in Arab Spring countries. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... these statements also carry implied messages for the peoples," he said. Ould Tfeil added that "Al-Qaeda wants to say that it sympathises with the vulnerable governments in Arab Spring countries. This is, however, in the interest of al-Qaeda itself because it too suffers from precariousness and crackdowns, but hides this feeling with this show of force." Hamdi Ould Abdullah, a political analyst, told Magharebia that through this statement, the Maghreb branch of al-Qaeda wants to say that it was a partner in the Arab Spring revolutions and, on the other hand, it wants to prove relations with the parent al-Qaeda at a time when all other terrorist branches, whether in Syria or Iraq, are suffering from lack of harmony. Posted by: Fred 2013-07-02 |
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