Message by Abd Al-Wadoud: "Why We Oppose a Friendship Treaty with France"
On July 10, 2007, Islamist websites posted a message by Abu Mus'ab Abd Al-Wadoud, Emir of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, titled "Why We Oppose a Friendship Treaty with France." The message is a response to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's initiative to form a Mediterranean Union, which 'Abd Al-Wadoud regards as an attempt to revive Jacques Chirac's unsuccessful plan to form a Friendship Treaty between France and Algeria. Abd Al-Wadoud states that Sarkozy's initiative is just another disguise for the French "colonialist project" in Algeria and in the rest of North Africa, saying: "How can [we] allow France... to ignore this painful [chapter in its history], and to call for friendship between the oppressor and the oppressed... before justice is established, oppression is [ended], and [the Algerians] receive their full rights?" Finally, Al-Wadoud states that talks with France can begin only when three conditions are met: when France stops influencing Algeria in any way, when it withdraws its troops from Afghanistan and Lebanon, and when it acknowledges its crimes against the Algerian people.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Claims Responsibility for Bombing in Al-Akhdhariyya, Algeria
In a communiqué posted July 11, 2007 on Islamic websites, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for a bombing carried out that day in an Algerian military camp in Al-Akhdhariyya. The communiqué stated that the bombing had been perpetrated by Suhaib Abu Malih, who had detonated a truck loaded with over a ton of explosives within the camp, killing at least 70 soldiers and wounding dozens. The communiqué ends with the following appeal to Muslim youths: "Suhaib [Abu Malih] has shown you the path to redemption... Rush towards death, and it will grant you [everlasting] life, free you of humiliation, and restore the Caliphate."
Al-Zawahiri Urges Pakistanis to Wage Jihad Against Their Government
In a July 11, 2007 audio message, Al-Zawahiri criticizes "the criminal aggression carried out by Musharraf, his army and his security apparatuses [against the radicals in the Red Mosque]," warning that such crimes "can be purged [only] by repentance or by blood." Addressing the Pakistani ulama, Al-Zawahiri warns them not to remain silent about the Red Mosque events, and in particular about what was done to Maulana Abd Al-Aziz Ghazi, who was paraded in public dressed in the women's clothes he had put on while attempting to escape from the mosque. Al-Zawahiri says that, if the ulama remain silent, they will receive the same treatment at the hands of the Pakistani government: "This is how much Musharraf values [the ulama], and this is the type of treatment that awaits you in the prisons of his hounds... Musharraf has dragged your honor through the mud... [and] if you do not avenge your honor he will wipe you out." Al-Zawahiri warns the Muslims that if Musharraf is not stopped now, "he will stamp out Islam in Pakistan." The solution, he says, is not to negotiate or bargain with the Pakistani regime, but to wage jihad against it. Al-Zawahiri concludes his message by urging the Pakistanis to support the jihad in Afghanistan.
