The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On April 29, 2023, Al-Malahem, the official media outlet of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), released a video titled "Allah Certainly Does Not Set Right the Work of The Corruptors" (Quran 10:81).[1]
The video includes a speech delivered in Arabic by AQAP leader Khalid Batarfi in which he relates to the recent rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia and claims that in effect it constitutes an admission of defeat by the latter in its war against the Houthi Ansar Allah movement in Yemen. He calls on the Sunnis in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia to learn from Taliban in Afghanistan and wage jihad against "agents of Iran and the U.S." and stresses AQAP's willingness to join them in this jihad.
Batarfi opens his approximately 15-minute speech with blessings for the Islamic nation upon the conclusion of the month of Ramadan and the Eid Al-Fitr holiday. He then states that he will concentrate his remarks on the war that has been waged for nearly eight years in Yemen and on "the erratic positions" taken by the Saudi kingdom in this war.
Saudi Arabia Wages War Against Islam
Batarfi attacks the Saudi claim that it is the protector of the Sunnis and their rights and asserts that the Saudi government "is corrupt and corrupting" and even constitutes "the spearhead in the war against Islam and the Muslims" in the Arabian Peninsula which is the holiest region to Muslims where two of its holiest places are located, the mosques in Mecca and in Medina.
He levels a long list of accusations against Saudi Arabia, among them, the dissemination of promiscuity in the Arabian Peninsula; the jailing of Muslim preachers and clerics; the killing of mujahideen; allowing liberal secularists and various "perverts" to spread corruption and to humiliate Muslims; financing the wars of the U.S.; "sponsoring unbelief and corruption" against Islam and Muslims; hosting American forces on its territory; and imposing manmade laws in its kingdom rather than Islamic shari'a laws. Batarfi claims that such a government cannot assist Islam and Muslims, not in Yemen or anywhere else, and he quotes the Quranic verse, "Allah certainly does not set right the work of the corruptors" (Quran 10:81).
Saudi Involvement In Yemen Increased Sunni Suffering, Ended With Saudi Defeat
Batarfi reviews the Saudi involvement in Yemen from the launch of "the accursed Gulf initiative"[2] in 2011, to the war Saudi Arabia declared in March 2015 as the head of the "inferior Arab coalition" (i.e. the Saudi-Led Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen), and claims that this involvement only increased the suffering of the Muslims in Yemen and led to the expansion of Houthi influence in the country; and to the establishment of new bodies and forces "which serve the interests of the Jews and the Christians" in the country.
He further states that following all the preceding "crimes" and the failures they experienced during the years of fighting in Yemen, the Saudis are now negotiating with the Houthis about the withdrawal of their forces from the country, and says that this is after they signed an agreement with Iran in which they effectively conceded their defeat in the war in which they wasted hundreds of millions of dollars of the Muslims' money and left thousands of dead, widows, and orphans in their wake. Batarfi stresses that he does not regret the Saudi departure, but he is amazed at the arrogance exhibited by Saudi Arabia at the start of the war when it declared that it would assist the Muslims and end the war within a few weeks.
Sunnis In The Arabian Peninsula Should Emulate Taliban And Wage Jihad With AQAP
Addressing the Sunnis in Yemen, Batarfi asserts that the only ones who can uproot the Houthis, "the agents of Iran in Yemen," are those who are fighting so that the word of Allah will be supreme (i.e. Al-Qaeda). He urges all the Sunnis in Yemen and in Saudi Arabia to unite and wage jihad for the sake of Allah against the enemies, whether they are the agents of Iran or of the U.S. He also stresses AQAP's willingness to join the Sunnis in jihad against the Houthis and against all the enemies of the religion in Yemen and in all the lands of the Muslims.
Batarfi calls on the Muslims in Yemen to rely on Allah and to follow the path of the Prophet Muhammad and of "our brothers the Muslims in Afghanistan and the blessed leadership of Taliban" which gained victory after waging steadfast jihad against the enemies of Allah led by the U.S. and its helpers from among the Arab regimes headed by Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.
The conclusion of the video comprises archival footage documenting AQAP fighters in Yemen and operations carried out by the organization in the country.
This video follows a call by AQAP in February 2023 to wage jihad against the Saudi regime,[3] and a call from Batarfi in January 2023 to expel the U.S. and Iranian "proxies" from Yemen.[4]
[1] April 29, 2023.
[2] This is a reference to an initiative by several Gulf states in November 2011 to effect an orderly handover of the government in Yemen from President 'Ali 'Abdullah Saleh to his deputy Abd Rabbihi Mansur Hadi', with the aim of ending the riots that broke out in Yemen as part of the wave of protests that swept the Arab world during the "Arab Spring."
[3] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Video Describes Saudi Regime As Enemy Of Islam And The Muslims, Calls For Jihad To Overthrow It, February 6, 2023.
[4] See MEMRI JTTM Report: Al-Qaeda In The Arabian Peninsula Leader Batarfi: 'Defensive Jihad' Mandatory To Expel U.S., Iranian 'Proxies' From Yemen, January 14, 2023.
The full text of this post is available to subscribers.
Please login or register to request subscription information from MEMRI
