Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a Libyan Islamist group had joined the militant organisation and he urged mujahideen in North Africa to topple the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. "Honourable members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya announce that they are joining the al Qaeda group to continue the march of their brothers," Zawahri said in a recording posted on the Internet on Saturday.The Libyan group would be the second militant organisation to join al Qaeda this year after Algeria's armed GSPC said in January it had won approval from Osama bin Laden to rename itself Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Algerian-based network has claimed responsibility for a series of recent suicide attacks. Bombs in Morocco and gunfights in Tunisia also raised fears al Qaeda may be expanding in north African Maghreb states, potential launch pads for attacks on European targets. "Your good sons are gathering (in the Maghreb) under Islam and jihad's banner against America, France, Spain and their people ... O nation of jihad, support your sons so that we defeat our enemies and rid our homeland of their slaves," said Zawahri, naming leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
The Fighting Islamic Group first announced its presence in 1995, vowing to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and launching a violent campaign in the OPEC oil exporting nation. Security analysts say it is a loose organisation that has many followers in Western countries, especially Britain. But it split last year after some members renounced violence in exchange for a government amnesty.