June 2, 2008

New Documents from Emerging Al-Qaida Faction in Gaza Strip
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a communiqué and audio recording from an emerging branch of the Al-Qaida-aligned Fatah al-Islam movement based in the Gaza Strip. On January 12, 2008, the group issued a statement naming its local commander in the Palestinian territories as "Abu Abdelrahman al-Ghazzawi", who it simply described as “a very kind brother, with much previous experience in jihad and deep-seeded roots in theology.”

On February 12, 2008, Fatah al-Islam released the first known audio recording of Abu Abdelrahman al-Ghazzawi, in which he announced, “we shall commence our war from Palestine along with the Ansar and Muhajireen [emigrants and supporters] in order to unite our lines and to [honor] our slogans about battling the Jews who live near us—a jihad, in which there is no regard for clay and dirt… We declare to Shaykh Shaker [al-Absi] and Usama [Bin Laden] and Ayman [al-Zawahiri] and Abu Omar [al-Baghdadi]: ‘Go forth with the blessing of Allah, go forth with your Lord and fight, and we shall fight with you.’ O’ sons of Islam, sons of the Gaza Strip, you are our base of support and, on your behalf, we shall ask for help and assistance from Allah… No border or language shall separate us—we share the same Lord, the same religion, and the same enemy.”
------Source NEFA