NEFA Foundation: AQIM’s Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud Calls for Terror Strikes in Vengeance for Gaza
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new audio recording (dated January 13) of the top commander from Al-Qaida’s Committee in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud, titled, “Gaza - Between the Hammer of the Jews and Crusaders, and the Nail of the Apostates.” Abdel Wadoud condemned the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza and insisted that Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is just as responsible for the plight of Gaza as the much-maligned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak: “[the one] who has laid siege to Gaza and set his dogs, with their iron bars, upon the Egyptian people seeking to rescue their brothers, isn’t any more deceitful or shameless than the one who is preventing Muslims in Algeria from conducting peaceful protests… That person is Bouteflika, beloved by the Jews… That is Bouteflika and his generals, who appointed a Jew as an advisor in their damned government.” The AQIM commander demanded that Algerian soldiers and policemen abandon their support for Bouteflika’s government: “when will you stop directing your weapons and the bombs of your aircraft against your own people? At what point? Aren't you mortified by the thought of Allah [knowing about] the bombing runs of your aircrafts across Jijel, Boumerdas, and Tizi Ouzou over our heads, synchronized with the Israeli bombings targeting our brothers in Gaza?” Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud further called upon faithful Muslims across North Africa to launch terror strikes on “Jewish”, “crusader”, and “apostate” targets in vengeance for Israeli attacks on Gaza: “I call upon you to begin campaigns of destruction that will not end until the injustice against your brothers comes to a halt, putting pressure on this silent, treacherous regime… in particular, our brothers and beloved ones in Mauritania, the people of steadfastness and jihad. And so, I say to them, today is your day to support your brothers, [because] purifying Mauritania of the Israeli flag raised aloft in its skies, shooting the Jews, and closing their embassy is [our] duty… The peaceful demonstrations aren't sufficient anymore for Mauritania to respond to the voice of truth and honesty. The permanence of this relationship [between Mauritania and Israel] and its continual presence is not merely a sin against you alone, but it is also [a sin] against Islam and all its faithful… I call upon you to wage jihad, and attack the Western interests, everywhere… And to those in the Islamic Maghreb at large… lend your hands to the mujahideen, and coordinate with them in destroying Jewish and crusader interests in our regions without mercy or remorse. Carefully choose your targets, and provide your brothers with the intelligence. Plan quietly, rely on secrecy and silence, depend solely upon Allah, and do not seek anyone’s permission to destroy the killers of prophets and the cross-worshippers who are allied together in order to demolish us mercilessly and remorselessly.”