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	Special Announcement|240| June 8, 2013 Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary MEMRI | MEMRI TV | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR | SOUTH ASIA STUDIES PROJECT
	IF YOU LIKE THE FOLLOWING RELEASES, PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING NOW TO MEMRI'S SUMMER CAMPAIGN The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock – among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email tojttmsubs@memri.org with "Membership" in the subject line.) Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, 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. Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Calls Upon Muslims To Join The Jihad In Syria As Means To Restore Caliphate, Defy U.S., Liberate Palestine In a 23-minute audio message titled "65 Years after the Creation of the Occupying State of Israel," Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri calls the creation of Israel a crime and attacks the US for its consistent support of this country. He also urges Muslims to join the jihad in Syria in order to free Palestine and restore the Islamic Caliphate. Online jihad operatives associated with Jabhat Al-Nusra interpreted the message's content as the Al-Qaeda leader's arbitration in the dispute regarding the effort by Al-Qaeda in Iraq to incorporate Jabhat Al-Nusra into the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. They contend that Al-Zawahiri's message officially divided between the Syrian and Iraqi jihad arenas, and allowed Jabhat Al-Nusra to maintain its organizational independence. The following are the main points of Al-Zawahiri's message, which was released on June 5, 2013 by Al-Qaeda's media company Al-Sahab and was posted on leading jihadi forums. Syrian Opposition Sources: Nephew Of Nouri Al-Maliki Killed Fighting On Behalf Of Regime In Syria In recent days Syrian opposition sources reported on Facebook that the nephew of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki had died while fighting in Damascus on behalf of the Syrian regime, and that his body had arrived in Iraq. Members of the Jihadi forum Al-Fida cited these reports. A female member on the forum cited a report that was published May 31, 2013 on the Facebook page "'Umawi Live Syria" under the heading: “The Nephew of the Rafidi Zoroastrian Iraqi Prime Minister Has Been Trampled in Al-Saida Zainab [Tomb] in Damascus."  Afghan Taliban Video Shows Military-Style Training For Militants Preparing For Jihad Militants undergoing motorcycle-borne training The official website of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Afghan Taliban, led by Mullah Omar) has released a new video showing a group of 30 militants undergoing extensive and advanced military-style training at an unidentified location somewhere along the lawless Pakistan-Afghan border. In the video, titled "Let's Prepare Ourselves," masked Taliban militants dressed in military uniforms are seen being trained by masked instructors in using AK-47s, pistols, artillery, and motorcycle-borne  attacks inside a sprawling mud-built compound, as well as in the open, in the undisclosed rough mountainous region. Report: Top-Level Afghan Taliban Delegation Visits Iran According to a Pakistani media report, the Afghan Taliban have confirmed that a team of their top negotiators from the Taliban's Qatar political office paid a three-day visit to Tehran at the invitation of the Iranian government. Iran denied that it is in talks with the Taliban. "The delegation led by Tayyeb Agha has now returned," a Taliban spokesman said in a Pashtu-language statement, according to a report in The Express Tribune daily. The four top Taliban leaders who were part of the delegation included Syed Tayyeb Agha, Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar, Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanakzai, and Qari Din Muhammad. Saudi Diplomat Kidnapped In Yemen: Saudi Arabia Fights Al-Qaeda So It Does Not Establish An Islamic Model That Exposes The Fact That Its Regime Is Not Islamic On June 4, 2013, the jihadi message board Al-Fida' posted an interview conducted by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) media company with 'Abdallah Muhammad Khalifa Al-Khalidi, the deputy Saudi consul to Aden, who was kidnapped by the group in March, 2012. Unlike previous tapes of Khalidi, he did not ask the Saudi government to meet his kidnappers' demands in order to free him, but rather attacked the Saudi regime and accused it of fighting Al-Qaeda out of the fear that it will establish the model of an Islamic country that would pull the rug out from under Saudi Arabia, which purports to be Islamic. Furthermore, he accused Saudi Arabia of acting according to U.S. dictates and that the only thing that motivates it is the survival of the current regime, as opposed to the good of the Islamic ummah or the Saudi homeland. Following are excerpts from the interview: Al-Khalidi said that the Saudi regime fights Al-Qaeda militarily and in terms of da'wa not because of its definition as a terrorist or extremist or takfiri organization, but rather because it seeks to implement the Islamic shari'a, thus becoming an Islamic role model; one that the Saudi regime does not want to exist. Moreover, Al-Khalidi claimed, Saudi Arabia fears the Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt and Tunisia, even though they are not extreme Islamists, because they could begin to implement the core principles of Islam, even gradually, which will pull the rug out from under Saudi Arabia, after it becomes clear that the Saudi regime is different from an Islamic regime. Iraq-Based Jihadi Group Ansar Al-Islam Launches Official Twitter Account On June 3, 2013, Ansar Al-Islam, a jihadi group based in Iraq, announced it had launched an official Twitter account, @ansar_al_islam, in order to "expand its distribution scope through various certified platforms." According to the announcement, which was posted on the leading jihadi forum Al-Fida', the new account was named after Abdalla Khlaifani, a martyred commander, to "recognize his status." "All statements, productions, etc. which are published [in this account]," the announcement states, "will be official and issued by the group." Using 'We Are All Jabhat A-Nusra' Twitter Hashtag, Online Jihadis Defend the Group, Criticize Its Listing As Terrorist Organization Soon after the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) added Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), the main rebel force fighting to topple Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad, to the terrorist organizations list, online jihadis on Twitter condemned the decision and expressed their support for the jihadi group. Using a the Twitter hashtag 'We Are All Jabhat Al-Nusra' - a name Syrian protesters gave to one Friday last year - the majority of tweets in this hashtag regarded the addition as a credit to the jihadi group. Please remember the environment before printing.