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The following is research published today from the MEMRI Special Dispatch Series and TV Monitor Project. In New Audio Message, AQAP Deputy Commander Sa'id Al-Shihri Warns Saudis of Imminent Iranian War against Sunnis, Urges them to Join Jihad in Yemen AQAP Announces Death of Senior Regional Commander Taliban Commanders in Interviews: 'Jihad is a Religious Obligation On Us, We Have No Fixed Timeframe For It'; 'Jihadi Officials Have Been Recruited in All 15 Districts of Paktika in Accordance With the Rules... of the Islamic Emirate' Pakistani Taliban Release Video Of Kidnapped Vice Chancellor, Demand That Pakistan Release Four Taliban Militants From Prison Special Dispatch No. 4561—Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor/Saudi Arabia/Iran/Minorities in the Middle East/U.S. and the Arab & Muslim World In New Audio Message, AQAP Deputy Commander Sa'id Al-Shihri Warns Saudis of Imminent Iranian War against Sunnis, Urges them to Join Jihad in Yemen Note to media and government: For a full copy of this report, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email. On March 7, 2012, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a new audio message from its deputy commander, Sa'id Al-Shihri, addressing the Saudi public. His last message, it should be noted, was issued almost a year ago. Al-Shihri begins his message by claiming that the "drums of war have been beaten," and that Iran is planning to wage war on Saudi Arabia. Al-Shihri points to the recent disturbances sparked by the Shi'ite population in the Eastern Province's Qatif region, including demonstrations and clashes with police, which he says mark the first stage of Iran's deployment of its minions in the kingdom. Iran, he says, aims to target the heart of Islam, and will therefore soon spread its assault to the Hijaz. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6162.htm. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. AQAP Announces Death of Senior Regional Commander Note to media and government: For a full copy of this report, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email. The jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam published a communiqué by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), dated March 7, 2012, announcing the death of one of its commanders, Sheikh Abu 'Omar Muhammad Al-Hanq, whom it described as a "propagandist and mujahid" and "one of the knights of da'wa." Following are the main points of the communiqué: AQAP offered its condolences to the mujahideen in general, and those in the Arhab tribe of Sanaa Province in particular, noting that Al-Hanq had died of illness, after having escaped death a number of times at the hands of "the Crusader enemies and their helpers, who waylaid him over recent years." To read the full report, visit http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=5822&param=GJN. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. Special Dispatch No. 4560—Afghanistan/Taliban/Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor/South Asia Studies Project Taliban Commanders in Interviews: 'Jihad is a Religious Obligation On Us, We Have No Fixed Timeframe For It'; 'Jihadi Officials Have Been Recruited in All 15 Districts of Paktika in Accordance With the Rules... of the Islamic Emirate' Note to media and government: For a full copy of this report, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email. Below are excerpts from recent interviews with two Taliban commanders in Afghanistan, which appeared in the Urdu-language jihadist magazine Nawa-i-Afghan Jihad. The date of the interviews is not clear, but they appear to have been conducted sometime in late 2011. The first interview is with Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, one of the two main spokesmen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Taliban shadow government), and was published in the February 2012 issue of Nawa-i-Afghan Jihad. The second is with Maulvi Sangeen, Taliban shadow governor for Paktika province. Following are the excerpts from the interview with Qari Yousuf Ahmadi and the interview with Maulvi Sangeen: Interview with Qari Yousuf Ahmadi "If You Take a Close Look at the Situation in Kandahar and Helmand, You Will Find That the Enemy Armies… Could Not Move Even 100 Meters From Their Bases" Question: "A few years ago, foreign troops had wrested some of the areas from the Taliban in the districts [in the provinces of] Kandahar and Helmand. What is the reason that the Taliban could not conquer those areas again?" Qari Yousuf Ahmadi: "If you take a close look at the situation in Kandahar and Helmand, you will find that the enemy armies have set up their bases only in the centers of those districts and they could not move even 100 meters from their bases. And in most of those places the supplies are provided by air. That is why we can say that they have not made any advance in those areas. On the other hand, you know that it is important to keep terrifying the enemies all the time with guerilla warfare, and to keep inflicting damage on them, which we have been doing in other parts of the country. "You know that we have conducted successful attacks in the districts of Kandahar and Helmand provinces during the Al-Badr operations this year [2011]." To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6161.htm. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line. Special Dispatch No. 4559—South Asia Studies Project/Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Pakistani Taliban Release Video Of Kidnapped Vice Chancellor, Demand That Pakistan Release Four Taliban Militants From Prison Note to media and government: For a full copy of this report, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to media@memri.org. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email. Ajmal Khan in captivity in an earlier video The Taliban in Pakistan have released a video in which Ajmal Khan, the Vice Chancellor of Peshawar's Islamic College University, who was kidnapped by the Taliban a few years ago, urges the Pakistani government to free four Taliban militants in exchange for his release. In the new video, telecast March 7, 2012 by Pakistani television channels GEO TV and AVT Khyber, the white-bearded Ajmal Khan looks exhausted and weak. This is the fourth Taliban video of him in captivity. To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6160.htm. To view this report, you must be a paying member of the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor Project (JTTM). For membership information, send an email to jttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.