Al Qaeda releases another tape from Abu Yahya al Libi

Abu Yahya al Libi, from his latest propaganda tape released by al Qaeda. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.

Al Qaeda has released a second tape by Abu Yahya al Libi, the senior leader, ideologue, and religious figure who is thought to have been killed in a US drone strike in Mir Ali, North Waziristan on June 4. The SITE Intelligence Group provides a summary of the videotape, and notes that the Al Fajr Media Center, al Qaeda’s online distribution arm, refers to al Libi as if he is alive. Below is the summary from SITE, which is spot on:

Al-Qaeda official Abu Yahya al-Libi condemned America’s ethics in war, drawing mostly on examples of soldiers’ actions against civilians and fighters in Afghanistan in January and March, 2012, in a new video speech released on jihadist forums on June 22, 2012. The speech, titled, “The American Army and the Ethics of War,” came in a 16 minute, 51 second video produced by al-Qaeda’s media arm, as-Sahab. Like the video released on June 12, the production date is again given as the Hijri year 1433, but Libi’s reference to the incident of an American soldier murdering civilians in Kandahar dates his speech to being recorded as early as mid-March 2012.

Libi AKA Hasan Qa’id was reportedly killed in a US drone strike outside Mir Ali in North Waziristan, Pakistan, on June 4, 2012, but as yet, neither al-Qaeda nor al-Fajr Media Center, the exclusive online distributor of its propaganda, have confirmed or denied the news. The message post with the video on the forums includes “may Allah protect him” after Libi’s name, an honorific that is usually reserved for individuals who are alive, which may indicate that al-Fajr believes him to be alive or is awaiting official confirmation from al-Qaeda as to his fate.

The first video of Abu Yahya was released on June 12, just eight days after he was reported killed in the June 4 drone strike.

Again, the release of these two videos is not confirmation that Abu Yahya al Livi is alive. See Threat Matrix reports, Al Qaeda suggests Abu Yahya al Libi is alive, promises video, and As Sahab releases video of Abu Yahya al Libi for the explanation as to why this is the case.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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