[RFE/RL] After almost a year of silence, Ayman al-Zawahiri has released an audio message swearing allegiance to Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansur, the new Taliban chief.Zawahri's message is another response to, and nullification of, Daesh and its claims to have established a caliphate. In declaring a caliphate, Daesh leader and Zawahiri's archrival Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi confirmed his rejection of Al-Qaeda's authority.
But in his pledge to Mansur, Zawahiri does not mention Baghdadi, Daesh, or its "caliphate" at all. And he refers to Mansur as Amir al-Mu'amin, the leader of the faithful -- the same title adopted by Baghdadi.
"We pledge allegiance to you to establish the Islamic caliphate that rises on the choice and preference of the Muslims, with the spreading of justice and consultation, realizing security, removing injustice and restoring rights, while raising the banner of jihad," Zawahiri said, implying not only that the Daesh caliphate has not fulfilled these criteria, but that it doesn't even exist.
Zawahiri calls his vow to Mansur as a continuation of the "path of jihad" of Al-Qaeda's "just leaders," including Al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Zarqawi and -- notably, since he led the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the forerunner of Daesh -- his successor, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir (Abu Ayyub al-Masri).
Zawahiri's pledge to Mansur could lend the new Taliban leader greater credibility, according to one Afghan intelligence official. But how much?
One major difficulty for Zawahiri in his pledge to Mansur is the highly damaging revelation that the Taliban lied about Mullah Omar's death for two years. Beyond that, Mansur is not viewed as a figure with particularly strong jihadi credentials, some analysts say.
Zawahiri's pledge could prove boon for Daesh. Soon after the audio recording of Zawahiri's pledge was released, online Daesh supporters began to mock it, saying that the Al-Qaeda leader had effectively pledged himself to the Pakistani intelligence service.
Mansur accepted Zawahiri's pledge in a statement published on the Taliban's English-language website on August 14. But other key figures, including some of Daesh's most fierce critics -- Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Al-Qaeda's intellectual godfather, and Sheikh Abu Qatada al-Filistini, who has referred to Daesh as a "mafia group" -- have yet to react.