ISI Qadi Makes Effort to Justify the Organization's Military Activity

On April 11, 2007, the Islamist State in Iraq's (ISI) media company Al-Furqan issued a 19-minute video titled "Why Do We Wage Jihad?" by ISI Qadi Abu Suleiman Al-'Utaybi. The video was posted as part of the organization's ongoing effort to establish its legitimacy and to obtain support from the populace for the ISI and its military activity.

In his address, Abu Suleiman repeats familiar arguments about the evils of the occupation and the suffering of the Iraqi people at the hands of the Iraqi state troops, claiming that these hardships justify the ISI's military struggle against the Americans and the Iraqi government as well as against Sunni groups that oppose the ISI.

At the end of the message, Abu Suleiman addresses "the political forces that are trying to mix apostasy with belief and monotheism with polytheism." He accuses these forces of claiming to work for the good of Iraq but in truth only cause harm, and warns them: "Beware the consequences of [your] deception [both] in this world and in the world to come."

Below is a frame from the video, showing Abu Suleiman:

Large Sunni Iraqi Jihad Group Comes Out Against Al-Qaeda

On April 5, 2007, Islamist websites posted a communiqué by Al-Jaysh Al-Islami, which is one of the largest Sunni Iraqi jihad groups that have not joined the Al-Qaeda-founded Islamic State of Iraq. The communiqué accuses Al-Qaeda of numerous "violations of Islamic shari'a," including its threat to kill anyone who refuses to pledge allegiance to Al-Qaeda - a threat which, according to the communiqué, "turns all Sunnis into legitimate targets [for Al-Qaeda]." It is further stated that more than 30 Sunnis have already been killed for this reason.

Al-Jaysh Al-Islami therefore calls on the following parties to exert their influence in order to put a stop to these killings:

1. Islamic clerics, who are called upon to issue fatwas on important matters in order to protect the lives of Muslims.

2. The Al-Qaeda leaders, who are called upon to take religious and operative responsibility for the actions of their organization.

3. The members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, who are called upon to examine their conscience and beg forgiveness from Allah.

4. All the other jihad organizations, which are called upon to give [good] counsel to their brothers in Al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Claims Responsibility for the Bombing of Government Facilities in Algeria

In a communiqué posted April 11, 2007 on Islamist websites, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly known as the GSPC) claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks against government facilities that occurred that day in Algiers. The message lists the attacks and their perpetrators: The first attack, it says, was carried out by an individual named Mu'adh Ibn Jabal, who drove a truck loaded with 700 kg of explosives into the government headquarters in Algiers. The second was carried out by Al-Zubair Abu Sajda, who detonated a truck loaded with a similar amount of explosives next to the Interpol headquarters in the city. The individual responsible for the third attack was Abu Dajjana, who detonated a truck carrying 500 kg of explosives near the offices of the special police forces (i.e. the General Directorate of National Security) in Bab Al-Zuwar in Algiers.

The communiqué then addresses the "apostates and their Crusader masters," saying: "We bring you good tidings about the arrival of the Islamic youths who love death and martyrdom [as much] as you like the life of wantonness and rowdiness. By Allah, we will neither return our sword into its scabbard nor enjoy life until we liberate every... [inch of] Islamic land from [the hands of] the Crusaders, the apostates, and the collaborators, and until our ritually cleansed feet walk [once again] in the stolen [land of] Andalus [i.e. Spain] and in desecrated Jerusalem."

Lastly, the communiqué complains that, despite the mujahideen's constant effort to avoid spilling Muslim blood, the "apostates and the deceptive media are trying to focus on the painful aspect of the harm [accidentally] caused [by the mujahideen] to innocent people, while downplaying the harm caused to their [own] side..."

Below are photos of the three suicide bombers that accompanied the communiqué: