The Al-Qaida Papers - The Wire - Associated Press

57 Pages·2013·2.02 MB·English

by  The Associated Press

AL-QAIDA PAPERS

The following pages are part of a cache of
documents that the Associated Press found
on the floor in a building occupied by al-Qaida
fighters for almost a year in Timbuktu, Mali.
The AP has pieced together the order of the
pages as far as possible.
FIRST LETTER FROM ABU BASIR TO EMIR OF AL-QAIDA IN THE
ISLAMIC MAGHREB

In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful.

All the praise and thanks is for Allah, the Lord of mankind, jinn and
everything that exists, and may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon the
most honorable of all the Messengers, Mohamed.

To our beloved Sheikh and able emir Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, may Allah
keep him safe. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you.

I pray to Allah that my letter will find you in the best of spirits, moving from
one victory to the next.

We have received the glad tidings of your victories in the Islamic Maghreb
which came to us here in the East like a gentle breeze, reminding us of the
victories of our forbearers, and it made us, along with other Muslims, very
happy. We pray to Allah that you continue to be victorious.

Our dear Sheikh, we donʼt yet have the full details of your conquest of
Timbuktu and Mali, but we are sure that they are your victories, and the
fruits of your jihad and steadfastness. We do not know if you and Ansar
Dine are two factions, or if you are like us (Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia)
... Smile!!

Our good Sheikh, Allah has crowned your jihad with victories and put the
country in your hands.

The places under your control are a model for an Islamic state. The world is
waiting to see what youʼll do next and how you will manage the affairs of
your state. Your enemies want to see you fail and they are throwing
obstacles in your path to prove to people that the mujahideen are people
that are only good for fighting and war, and have nothing to do with running
countries, and the affairs of society.
Let it be known my good Sheikh that people have neglected their religion.
Generations of the Umma lived without really knowing the tenets of their
religion. They have been hard-pressed by their needs and by the hard toil
of making a living. They are being governed by rulers who seek to distance
them from their religion. But Allah has sent you to this Umma to move them
toward the right path. You have to be kind to them and make room for
compassion and for leniency. Try to win them over through the
conveniences of life and by taking care of their daily needs like food,
electricity and water. Providing these necessities will have a great effect on
people, and will make them sympathize with us and feel that their fate is
tied to ours. This is what weʼve observed during our short experience.

You have to take a gradual approach with them when it comes to their
religious practices. You canʼt beat people for drinking alcohol when they
donʼt even know the basics of how to pray. We have to first stop the great
sins, and then move gradually to the lesser and lesser ones. When you find
someone committing a sin, we have to address the issue by making the
right call, and by giving lenient advice first, then by harsh rebuke, and then
by force. We have to first make them heed monotheism and fight paganism
and sorcery, and then move on to enforcing punishments of great sins.

Enforcing Islamic punishments in war time is something that was done by
our forbearers and it needs to be applied through good judgment and
following a verdict. Our opinion in the beginning was to postpone the issue.
Only after monotheism took hold of peopleʼs hearts did we begin enforcing
these punishments. Sharia rule doesnʼt mean enforcing punishments, as
some people believe, or have been made to believe. We have to correct
this misconception for the sake of the people.

Try to avoid enforcing Islamic punishments as much as possible, unless
you are forced to do so. Societies are rarely free of such things. We used
this approach with the people and came away with good results. Even if
you can just establish love and hate for Allahʼ sake, and the tenets of
monotheism, it would be all right. Itʼs enough that the society is free of the
great sins. As for the smaller sins and offenses, they have to be addressed
gradually, with patience, leniency and wisdom.
These are some of the issues we have dealt with and we wanted to keep
you informed. You are our masters and we are your pupils. I pray to Allah
that he keeps you safe. We are always eager to hear from you.

Written by your brother Abu Basir
30 Jumada Al-Thani,1433

(May 21st 2012)
SECOND LETTER FROM ABU BASIR TO EMIR OF AL-QAIDA IN THE
ISLAMIC MAGHREB

In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful.

All the praise and thanks is for Allah, the Lord of mankind, jinn and
everything that exists, and may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon the
most honorable of all the Messengers, Mohamed.

To our beloved Sheikh and able emir Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, may Allah
keep him safe. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you.
May Allah give you a blessed month of Ramadan, and accept our good
deeds and yours. I pray to Allah that my letter will find you in the best of
health.
Here is a synopsis of what we did in this recent period:
Our experience was eventful. Itʼs a stage the group has inevitably
experienced. It was a period of time given to us by Allah, in which we
enforced Shariah for nearly one year, and we got to know people intimately,
and they came to know us. People were able to see examples of fighters
and emirs that they have never seen in their life before -- an emir who eats
with the poor, and sits with them on the same mat, an emir without doors,
or servants, whom they can see in the street, mosque or market. And who
quickly answers their demands, redresses the oppressed and gives rights
back to their owners.
People knew to what extent we abide by the rules of Sharia, and that this
method of rule is fit for every era and place. They have also seen that
justice would only be achieved in this way. The days we spent with them
were our very best.
Our soldiers tried their hand at administration and war. We came away with
many new experiences. At every stage, we were able to do some things
well, and we received uncountable blessings from Allah. One of the most
important results was the collapse of the false media empire, since people
came to realize the extent of their lies and fabrications. They have also
seen the amount of intimidation and fear that the media spreads.
But after that, the West and the East gathered against us, and fought us
with one hand. Our men withstood the battle like mountains in a most
valiant and indescribable manner that words can hardly express.
After four months of fighting we were forced to withdraw. The offensive was
very tough and it could hardly be stopped before achieving all its targets.
The whole world was against us, after the victories we had secured. People
became familiar with us, and our Islamic model was well received in the
areas under our control. Therefore, the campaign was fierce and had we
insisted on resisting, the campaign would have been long and would have
exhausted us both in terms of casualties and money. Furthermore, we were
under pressure because of the shelling of houses and the displacement of
civilians. Thanks to Allah, we withdrew successfully and in time to
circumvent their goal of killing our leaders, and taking others as POWs.
The control of these areas during one year cost us 500 martyrs, 700
wounded, 10 cases of hand or leg amputation and nearly $20 million.
Our position now is far better. The war was waged against us by all parties,
but now they have turned against each other, which gave us a rare
opportunity for guerrilla warfare and liquidations. We embarked on that as
soon as we withdrew. We killed the leader of the campaign, and the rest
will follow. We pray for Allah to help us.
Thanks to Allah, most of the battle costs, if not all, were paid from through
the spoils. Almost half the spoils came from hostages. Kidnapping
hostages is an easy spoil, which I may describe as a profitable trade and a
precious treasure.
The most effective weapon of the enemy was the ʻPopular Committees,
composed of mercenaries who have been living off of looting and
robberies, some Sufis, the Muslim Brotherhood, Sorouris, and Salafists.
Those are the groups which were gathered by the enemy to become a de
facto army of the area. The second most effective weapon was the media,
which spread lies and fear. The media campaign they waged was no less
than the military one, if not stronger.
They also used spies and tried to infiltrate the ranks of the mujahideen. By
doing this, they have been able to target most of our leaders via drones.
Therefore, our cadres and leaders need to be very careful when it comes to
new recruits.
My dear Sheikh, our most important weapon is the media. You are kindly
requested to put in place the right people, who can express themselves
well and convey our message. They must know the different stages of
jihad, so as to be able to illuminate each stage for others. It shouldnʼt be
that every fighter and commander is allowed to talk to the media. You have
to keep the message under control, reflecting your real situation, and not
what you aspire for it to be. We restricted the statements and appearances
of our brothers and emirs, allowing only those we deemed fit, and they
were allowed to speak only in their area of specialty.
As soon as we took control of the areas, we were advised by the General
Command here not to declare the establishment of an Islamic principality,
or state for a number of reasons: We wouldnʼt be able to treat people on
the basis of a state since we would not be able to provide for all their
needs, mainly because our state is vulnerable. Second: Fear of failure, in
the event that the world conspires against us. If this were to happen,
people may start to despair and believe that jihad is fruitless. For these
reasons and others, we deemed that their advice was wise and decided not
to declare a state. Moreover, our bothers in Somalia have not declared a
state despite the fact that they control most of the areas of the country.
Our dear emir, we have been exhausted in the course of many battles and
fronts. Despite their undeniable benefit, they are exhaustive in terms of
money, men and weapons. We have seized weapons we thought would be
enough for years, but as soon as we withdrew, we found ourselves having
to buy arms. Therefore, we advise you not to be dragged into a prolonged
war. Hold on to your previous bases in the mountains, forests and deserts
and prepare other refuges for the worst-case scenario. This is what we
came to realize after our withdrawal.
In the end, I apologize for taking on the role of a mentor, which I would
never been able to do, but for these useful experiences I wanted to convey
to you. There may be a person who presumes to teach those who know
more than him. Anyway, itʼs the jihad of our Umma, which we have to
nurture, so that Allah may help us to regain the Caliphate.
I sent you a message in Jumada (the month of May) and was surprised that
you did not receive it. I hereby have the honor to write you once more. I
enclose with the present letter, the previous one along with the letters of
our brothers in Khorasan (Afghanistan / Pakistan). Kindly convey my
greetings to all of our brothers and particularly the heroes of Timbuktu and
of the Azawad.
Your brother Abu Basir,
Arabian Peninsula, 18 Ramadan 1433
(6th August 2012)