In an audio message released to jihadist forums today, Harith bin Ghazi al Nadhari (also known as Muhammad al Murshidi), an official in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), denounced the recent crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Al Nadhari charged that the actions taken by Egyptian security personnel against the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters on Aug. 14 constituted a "serious crime." The Egyptian government seeks "to return Egypt to the era of oppression, tyranny and the domination of the security and intelligence agencies," the AQAP official said.
In reference to the recent killing of four members of the Sinai-based jihadist group Ansar Jerusalem, al Nadhari accused the Egyptian government of working with Israel "in killing our mujahideen brothers in Sinai."
Al Nadhari concluded his short message by urging Egyptian Muslims "to cling to patience and steadfastness" and openly declare their desire to implement sharia law. "Muslims are in need of proclaiming, openly without any disguise, that we want to implement Shari'ah. We want the Islamic Shari'ah," he declared.
In addition to the audio message, a video message from al Nadhari was released to jihadist forums today. According to the SITE Intelligence Group, which obtained the video, it "is the first time that Nadhari's face has been unobscured in an AQAP production."
In the video message, al Nadhari said that the "mujahideen" in Syria had achieved "great victories" against the Alawites. In addition, he praised the recent attacks on prisons in Iraq, which have freed numerous jihadists. With regard to Afghanistan, al Nadhari praised Taliban emir Mullah Omar and the Afghan people for continuing "jihad" against the United States. "America is retreating, pulling the tails of military defeat, as the Soviet Union pulled before, and before her, Britain," the AQAP official proclaimed.
Al Nadhari also mocked the recent US decision to evacuate personnel from Yemen after intercepted communications between al Qaeda and its affiliates suggested an attack was in the offing. As in his audio message, in the video al Nadhari offered his condolences for the deaths of fighters from Ansar Jerusalem who were recently killed in the Egyptian Sinai.
The AQAP official concluded his message by boasting that the US is on the retreat: "The crusade-alliance led by America, is in a full retreat. They are losing the war in every aspect: military, economy, intelligence and theology. America's retreat from the war will be a turning point. No other party, however powerful, will be able to take her seat in the war against Islam."