Al-Shabab Commander: Our Declaration of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda is 'a Key to Renewing the Caliphate, Expelling the Crusaders from the Muslim World, and Liberating Jerusalem'

Al-Shabab Commander: Our Declaration of Allegiance to Al-Qaeda is 'a Key to Renewing the Caliphate, Expelling the Crusaders from the Muslim World, and Liberating Jerusalem'

In a new audio recording, the commander of the Somali jihad organization Al-Shabab Al-Mujahideen, Mukhtar Abu Al-Zubair, declared that the Muslims' victory over the Crusaders is near, and that last month's London Conference on Somalia was aimed at erasing this country from the map of the world. He also expressed satisfaction over his organization's declaration of allegiance to Al-Qaeda, calling it "a key to renewing the Caliphate, expelling the crusaders from the Muslim world, and liberating Jerusalem." He urged all Muslims to join the jihad, for it is an individual religious duty incumbent upon every believer.

Al-Zubair's address was aired on Al-Shabab's radio station, Al-Andalus, on March 22, 2012, and a transcript was posted the same day on the jihadi forum Shumoukh Al-Islam. The following are the main points of the transcript.

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