| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Desperate AQIM breaks silence on Mali |
| 2013-03-21 |
| [MAGHAREBIA] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) issued a new statement on Sunday (March 17th), urging North African youths to fight secularists at home and wage jihad in Mali. The message from the terror network was the first since the international military intervention in northern Mali dislodged the terror network from major cities and reportedly killed several big shots, including Abdelhamid Abou Zeid. "The front of the Islamic Maghreb today is in direst need of the support of the sons of Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, and Mauritania, to thwart the attack of Crusader La Belle France and defeat its agents in the region, and empower the Islamic project and Jihad," AFP quoted the statement as saying. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the statement addressed moderate political Islamic movements in the Maghreb when it urged them to support jihadists and not leave the stage to the secularists, in a clear reference to liberal political parties as well as leftists and nationalists in North Africa. "Mohammedan youth in Tunisia and elsewhere must not let secularist and other Westernisers run amok. Mohammedan youth should stay and fight the enemy of God and their enemy as well with arguments, proofs and evidence," the terrorist network said. In another paragraph, AQIM said that "jihad" has become easy by virtue of the revolutions that "gave significant room for the call to God. It also gave Mohammedans a full scope to practice their religion, promote virtue and prevent vice. In fact the biggest beneficiaries are the proponents of the Islamic project." According to observers, the new statement stands out for the appeal to moderate Islamist factions that had previously distanced themselves from the cut-thoat salafist groups. Previously, al-Qaeda had described the centrists as hypocrites. This shift in al-Qaeda's discourse with moderate Islamists reflects their dire need for a helping hand, according to analyst Abdul Hamid Ansari. He added that AQIM may have been encouraged by the positions of some Islamist parties that opposed the war against jihadists in northern Mali. However, ars longa, vita brevis... Ansari said that the position of Islamist parties rejecting the war on cut-throats would not be followed by other supporting steps. He said that the statements issued by those parties were only a moral stand. Others however believe that AQIM is seeking to exploit the tense situation prevailing in some Maghreb countries between Islamist movements and their opponents, particularly as is the case in Tunisia between Ennahda and secular groups or in Egypt. "Al-Qaeda resorts to every possible method to sow discord and differences between peoples in order to gain support," analyst Mohamed Ag Hamadou told Magharebia. "It is seeking to plant dissent in the internal front of Maghreb countries in order to win more support." But he added that he did not think the plot would succeed, saying, "Today, Maghreb youth want jobs rather than retreat into a mountain and die for free." Although most Maghreb youths are more concerned with local problems according to the analyst, some may still heed that call, such as the Frenchie Djamel Touiter. He was incarcerated ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... few weeks ago in northern Mali fighting alongside al-Qaeda. The newspaper Le Gay Pareeien quoted his sister Sonia as saying that her brother's actions were a disgrace. "He has betrayed La Belle France. He has betrayed his family. And he has also betrayed the French public. His actions go against the services that La Belle France gave him. He deserves punishment," his sister said. The newspaper added that the 37-year-old Frenchie of Algerian origin was previously a member of La Belle France's police force and held several other jobs before joining jihadists in northern Mali, leaving behind three children and his ex-wife. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 leaving behind three children and his ex-wife. A pillar of society. One can just imagine obooboo snarling "Whaddya mean I can't pardon someone imprisoned in another country?" |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2013-03-21 09:49 |