On July 1, 2010, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) launched the first edition of its online magazine in English. Inspired. The magazine, a slickly produced propaganda document, represents an effort to engage the English-speaking world and recruit English-speaking Muslims to join the cause of jihad.
inspire The main message for his readers is that they, too, can be a part of Al-Qaeda and its mission, but from the comfort of their own home. Instead of traveling thousands of kilometers to join the jihad, the reader only needs to turn on his computer and visit websites for training, that is, watch videos and listen to the sermons of his favorite leaders, and learn how to handle weapons, explosives and even plan attacks. For example, a question and answer section in the most recent edition of Inspired includes an anonymous Muslim living in the West who asks for guidance on how best to join the jihad and reach out to the jihad front lines. The magazine’s response to him, and to all readers, is: “[B]Based on your ability, you choose the target. [in your home area]. Your target group is large, so be sure to think through all the options available to you. An example of something local, easy and effective is attacking an army recruiting center, a nightclub, a highway or a busy shopping mall.”
five numbers of Inspired now they have been released. They include several series of articles focusing on different aspects of jihad of vital interest to Al-Qaeda recruits and potential recruits. One series, “The Jihad Experience,” by Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri, has appeared in four of the magazine’s issues, and Inspired No. 5 offers a preview of the next chapter, which will be published in the next Inspired No. 6.
Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri – General Background
Abu Mus’ab Al-Suri, 53, is one of Al-Qaeda’s most prominent ideologues and strategists. Born Mustafa bin ‘Abd Al-Qader Setmariam Nassar, he has multiple aliases, including ‘Umar ‘Abd Al-Hakim. As a member of the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, he was exiled from Syria in 1982 following the clash between the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and President Hafez Al-Assad.
His past in the jihad ranks includes close ties to Abdullah Azzam, Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to name a few. At various times, he has been affiliated with or is an official member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the GIA (Armed Islamic Group of Algeria), the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
Al-Suri is also known as a pioneer in the jihadist media. In 1997, he was one of the founders of the media company called the Office for Islamic Conflict Studies. Al-Suri and the Islamic Conflict Studies Office are believed to be responsible for releasing Al-Qaeda videotapes to foreign media. He is also known for having arranged multiple interviews for Osama bin Laden with the Western media while he was residing in Britain. He was editor of Al Ansar magazine, which promoted the insurgency in Algeria and was aligned with the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, and, according to his wife, Helena Moreno, had “worked in the Taliban Ministry of Information as a consultant.”
The 2011 calendar of the US National Counterterrorism Center lists Al-Suri as an “Al-Qaeda propaganda and trainer, indicted in Spain for his role in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, and [who] He was arrested in Pakistan.”
Al-Suri: A Model for Al-Qaeda Followers in the West
For numerous reasons, Al-Suri can be seen as a model for jihadists in the West. First, as a light-skinned, blue-eyed redhead, he finds it easy to blend in with his European or American background (in fact, one of his aliases is El Rubio). He has Spanish citizenship and his wife, Helena Moreno, is a Spanish convert to Islam. Al-Suri has lived in several Western countries and understands Western culture. he was involved with Da’wa – Islamic outreach to non-Muslims in an attempt to convert them – and has been described by his wife as someone “who wanted to build bridges and open a dialogue with non-Muslims”.
Al-Suri’s Plan for the Next Generation of Al-Qaeda
From 2001, when the United States placed a bounty on him, until his capture in 2005, Al-Suri wrote prolifically, including thousands of pages detailing his philosophy for a post-9/11 world. In 2004, he posted online the 1,600-page “Call for Global Islamic Resistance,” which laid the groundwork for the current generation of Al-Qaeda followers in the West who would be willing to engage in jihadist activities without leaving their home countries. origin. and with little or no contact with the organization. His book provided the steps to launch jihad without the need to attend a boot camp; in fact, he was one of the first to understand the potential of the Internet to replace boot camp. “The Global Islamic Resistance Call” (republished in Inspire magazine and can be found later in this report) outlines strategies for future jihadists, with an emphasis on rogue cells and leaderless Jihad. Parts of his lectures have also appeared on the Internet and have been distributed on DVD by jihadists in recent years.
The impact of Al-Suri’s strategic theory on the future of Al-Qaeda
The assassination of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011 provided another opportunity for the Al-Suri philosophy to gain stature within the ranks of Al-Qaeda. The June 3, 2011 release of the official Al-Sahab video from Al-Qaeda’s media wing titled “Don’t trust others, take [the Task] About Yourself,” provides further evidence that Al-Suri’s doctrine will be part of Al-Qaeda’s future plans. In the video, Al-Qaeda Central leaders focused on the issue of al-jihad al-fardi (“individual jihad”), that is, jihad operations carried out by a single individual or by a small group which was one of the fundamental principles of Al-Suri.