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...
in a statement posted Wednesday on Islamist websites.
Belmokhtar was a leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which, along with other armed Islamist groups, took advantage of a military coup in 2012 to occupy northern Mali before being driven out by French and African troops.
The elusive Islamist, who staged the deadly siege of an Algerian gas plant last year, was thought to have been killed in Mali, but security sources told AFP in mid-April he had moved into Libya and remained active.
"We declare our faith in the policies of our emir, Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri... because we are convinced of the fairness of his approach," Belmokhtar said in the statement.
He specifically mentioned Zawahiri's latest comments on in-fighting between Salafist tough guys in Syria that has killed hundreds since January.
Last year Zawahiri ordered the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
(ISIL) to confine its activities to Iraq after it was accused of widespread abuse against Syrian civilians and rival rebels.
Later, Zawahiri declared al-Nusra Front to be the official al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
In more recent comments, Zawahiri called for unity among Islamists fighting in Syria to topple the government of
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
.
The one-eyed Belmokhtar split from AQIM in 2013 to form his own group, the Signatories in Blood, and criminal masterminded the deadly raid against Algeria's In Amenas gas plant in which 38 hostages were killed in a four-day siege last year.
The attack was said to have been carried out in retaliation for the French-led military intervention in Mali.
The United States designated Belmokhtar's group as a terrorist organization in December, and the State Department is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
In mid-April Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said that Belmokhtar -- who had also fought the Soviets in Afghanistan during the 1990s -- was "a threat" to regional security.