[MAGHAREBIA] Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) posted a statement online Monday (July 14th) rejecting the self-declared caliphate in the Levant.The AQIM letter contradicted an earlier message of support for the group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Abu Abdullah Othman al-Asemi, AQIM's judge for the central region, released an audio tape late last month supporting ISIS.
But in the new statement, Abdelmalik Droukdel
... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the
Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb....
's group renews its allegiance to al-Qaeda leader 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....
Algerian security services reportedly received information about deep disagreements within AQIM that may lead to the removal of Droukdel, over his refusal to swear allegiance to the emir of the Islamic State. Algerian daily El Khabar on Wednesday quoted a senior security source as saying that the rift began over a month ago, and that al-Qaeda could split in two, with one segment following His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...formerly merely the head of ISIL and a veteran of the Bagram jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us...
and the second loyal to al-Zawahiri.
| This need to get right with Allah by following the latest strong horse is going to turn the taqfiris inward, rather than outward toward actual conquest. Their first impulse is to kill those who do not think exactly as they, and who more important to force into right thinking than their fellow mujahideen? We see that in the fighting between [Al Qaeda] Al Nusra and [Al Qaeda] ISIL, though at the moment ISIL is ascendant. May their fall be swift, bloody, and thorough, discrediting jihad as a method of dealing with the difficulties of the modern world. |
Droukdel reportedly considered the move of jihadists into Syria to mean losing the war against La Belle France in northern Mali.
In refusing to recognise al-Baghdadi's caliphate, AQIM said that the ISIS leadership "did not consult with jihadist leaders".
According to El Khabar, the differences between the salafi jihadist groups have quickly spread from Syria to Algeria, after a number of members of the al-Qaeda Council of Elders backed ISIS.
Disagreements among the Learned Elders of Islam? That's never happened before, has it?
| A much more efficient way to say my above... |
Reports on the internal AQIM divisions came as a minister admitted for the first time the existence of a number of Algerians fighting in jihadist groups abroad.
In an interview with Tout sur l'Algerie published July 16th, Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Aissa said security services identified some Algerian activists in the ranks of these jihadist groups, including 30 Algerians who joined a salafi takfiri
...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed...
st organization in Yemen, a reference to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Other Algerian jihadists are spread across the Moslem world, according to the minister.
Security expert and retired Colonel Omar Ben Jana warned of Maghrebi ISIS returnees and said they posed a real threat in light of the chaos prevailing in the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
. He noted that the terrorism that Algeria suffered from for years was fuelled by turbans returning from Afghanistan.
"The entry of ISIS into the region is a reality and not just a scenario," retired military officer Taher Ben Thamer said. He added that several jihadists who were present in Syria were currently in Libya, but their numbers remained low.
He noted that the risk would be greater in the event a large number of armed fighters returned home.
"The danger is in the control of the organization of weapons still deployed heavily in Libya, especially quality weapons and missiles bought with the large amounts of money earned by ISIS in smuggling oil from fields it dominates in Syria," Ben Thamer said.
For his part, the chairman of the Algeria-Africa Committee of Peace and Reconciliation, Ahmad Mizab, said that African countries must address security threats collectively in order to ensure sustainable stability and peace on the continent.
"A comprehensive vision and collective action at the level of the Maghreb and Africa are considered necessary conditions to address security threats in Africa," he said.