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Jihadist Salafists mount re-evaluation campaign in Morocco
(Magharebia) – Arab Spring reform movements are prompting Salafist jihadists to join in the sweeping changes. In Morocco, where constitutional reforms are reshaping the national landscape, many of those now voicing loyalty to the monarch and commitment to dialogue are also the most notorious terrorists.
Hassan Khattab is among the prisoners and freed Salafist inmates at the heart of the movement. He is serving a 30-year prison term for leading the “Ansar al-Mahdi” terror cell, which included security officials, an imam, and two wives of Royal Air Maroc pilots. The cell members were convicted in 2008 of funding terrorist operations and planning a terror campaign against the Moroccan regime.
In an online letter to King Mohammed VI published in early September, the Salafist presented his renunciation of violence as part of what he described as a “re-evaluation”. Hassan Khattab issued “revisions”, in which he said that he adopted an initiative entitled “Munasaha and Reconciliation.”
More below the fold …
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s Operational Revival in Northern Algeria
(Jamestown Report) – January 2010 marked the three-year anniversary of the merger between the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (known by its French acronym GSPC-Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat) and al-Qaeda central. The GSPC became the official wing of al-Qaeda in North Africa, under the title Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
In a message to Nigerian media regarding a recent outbreak or Christian-Muslim violence in the flashpoint city of Jos in central Nigeria, a writer claiming to be the AQIM chief Droukdel said, “We are ready to train your people in weapons, and give you whatever support we can in men, arms and munitions to enable you to defend our people in Nigeria,” and continued “You are not alone in this test. The hearts of Mujahideen are in pain over your troubles and desire to help you as much as possible.”
Libyans, Islam, and Islamists [pdf]
(Congressional Review) Dec. 2011 – Most Libyans accept a prominent role for Sunni Islamic tradition in public life, but differ in their personal preferences and interpretations of their faith. Islam is the official religion and the Quran is the nominal basis for the country’s law and its social code. Since Qadhafi’s downfall, a number of confrontations between conservative militia forces and local religious communities have centered around disputed interpretations of Islamic religious and cultural practices. In some cases, armed Salafist groups have destroyed or damaged shrines and tombs.
Libya’s armed Islamists vandalize Muslim graves as idolatrous
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
