Al-Qaeda Leader in Arabian Peninsula Vows Loyalty to Zawahiri
The leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Naser al-Wahishi, has announced his group’s support for the late Osama bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al- Zawahiri, and said the U.S. is “impotent” in Yemen.
“I and your loyal fighters announce our loyalty to you and on fighting the enemies of God,” al-Wahishi said in an audio recording carried today on a website used by al-Qaeda. “We are doing fine and making progress both at the domestic and foreign levels and in line with the plan you have drawn for us.”
Al-Wahishi has led the Arabian Peninsula branch since 2009, when it was created by the merger of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni and Saudi Arabian organizations. Al-Zawahiri took over the leadership of al-Qaeda last month, following the killing of bin Laden in May in a U.S. raid on his compound in Pakistan.
“The crusader American foe has stood impotent before the situation in Yemen,” al-Wahishi said, accusing the U.S. of “interference” by carrying out strikes in Yemen using unmanned aircraft with the consent of both the government and opposition. He also lashed out at Yemeni political parties, accusing them of seeking to take credit for a popular revolt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency planned to use drones to target al-Qaeda in Yemen after counter-terrorism operations were disrupted by the anti-government unrest, the Washington Post reported last month, citing unidentified American officials.
Anti-government protests erupted in Yemen in January as part of the movements sweeping the Arab world to call for more jobs and freedom. Violence escalated after Saleh refused to sign an Arab Gulf-brokered deal that would grant him immunity if he left office within 30 days and turned leadership over to Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi. Saleh is being treated in neighboring Saudi Arabia for injuries sustained in an attack on his compound.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammed Hatem in Sana’a, Yemen, at mhatem1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Louis Meixler at lmeixler@bloomberg.net.
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