AL-QAIDA PAPERS The following pages are part of a cache of documents that the Associated Press found on the floor in a building occupied by al-Qaida fighters for almost a year in Timbuktu, Mali. The AP has pieced together the order of the pages as far as possible. FIRST LETTER FROM ABU BASIR TO EMIR OF AL-QAIDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful. All the praise and thanks is for Allah, the Lord of mankind, jinn and everything that exists, and may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon the most honorable of all the Messengers, Mohamed. To our beloved Sheikh and able emir Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, may Allah keep him safe. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you. I pray to Allah that my letter will find you in the best of spirits, moving from one victory to the next. We have received the glad tidings of your victories in the Islamic Maghreb which came to us here in the East like a gentle breeze, reminding us of the victories of our forbearers, and it made us, along with other Muslims, very happy. We pray to Allah that you continue to be victorious. Our dear Sheikh, we donʼt yet have the full details of your conquest of Timbuktu and Mali, but we are sure that they are your victories, and the fruits of your jihad and steadfastness. We do not know if you and Ansar Dine are two factions, or if you are like us (Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia) ... Smile!! Our good Sheikh, Allah has crowned your jihad with victories and put the country in your hands. The places under your control are a model for an Islamic state. The world is waiting to see what youʼll do next and how you will manage the affairs of your state. Your enemies want to see you fail and they are throwing obstacles in your path to prove to people that the mujahideen are people that are only good for fighting and war, and have nothing to do with running countries, and the affairs of society. Let it be known my good Sheikh that people have neglected their religion. Generations of the Umma lived without really knowing the tenets of their religion. They have been hard-pressed by their needs and by the hard toil of making a living. They are being governed by rulers who seek to distance them from their religion. But Allah has sent you to this Umma to move them toward the right path. You have to be kind to them and make room for compassion and for leniency. Try to win them over through the conveniences of life and by taking care of their daily needs like food, electricity and water. Providing these necessities will have a great effect on people, and will make them sympathize with us and feel that their fate is tied to ours. This is what weʼve observed during our short experience. You have to take a gradual approach with them when it comes to their religious practices. You canʼt beat people for drinking alcohol when they donʼt even know the basics of how to pray. We have to first stop the great sins, and then move gradually to the lesser and lesser ones. When you find someone committing a sin, we have to address the issue by making the right call, and by giving lenient advice first, then by harsh rebuke, and then by force. We have to first make them heed monotheism and fight paganism and sorcery, and then move on to enforcing punishments of great sins. Enforcing Islamic punishments in war time is something that was done by our forbearers and it needs to be applied through good judgment and following a verdict. Our opinion in the beginning was to postpone the issue. Only after monotheism took hold of peopleʼs hearts did we begin enforcing these punishments. Sharia rule doesnʼt mean enforcing punishments, as some people believe, or have been made to believe. We have to correct this misconception for the sake of the people. Try to avoid enforcing Islamic punishments as much as possible, unless you are forced to do so. Societies are rarely free of such things. We used this approach with the people and came away with good results. Even if you can just establish love and hate for Allahʼ sake, and the tenets of monotheism, it would be all right. Itʼs enough that the society is free of the great sins. As for the smaller sins and offenses, they have to be addressed gradually, with patience, leniency and wisdom. These are some of the issues we have dealt with and we wanted to keep you informed. You are our masters and we are your pupils. I pray to Allah that he keeps you safe. We are always eager to hear from you. Written by your brother Abu Basir 30 Jumada Al-Thani,1433 (May 21st 2012) SECOND LETTER FROM ABU BASIR TO EMIR OF AL-QAIDA IN THE ISLAMIC MAGHREB In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful. All the praise and thanks is for Allah, the Lord of mankind, jinn and everything that exists, and may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon the most honorable of all the Messengers, Mohamed. To our beloved Sheikh and able emir Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, may Allah keep him safe. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be with you. May Allah give you a blessed month of Ramadan, and accept our good deeds and yours. I pray to Allah that my letter will find you in the best of health. Here is a synopsis of what we did in this recent period: Our experience was eventful. Itʼs a stage the group has inevitably experienced. It was a period of time given to us by Allah, in which we enforced Shariah for nearly one year, and we got to know people intimately, and they came to know us. People were able to see examples of fighters and emirs that they have never seen in their life before -- an emir who eats with the poor, and sits with them on the same mat, an emir without doors, or servants, whom they can see in the street, mosque or market. And who quickly answers their demands, redresses the oppressed and gives rights back to their owners. People knew to what extent we abide by the rules of Sharia, and that this method of rule is fit for every era and place. They have also seen that justice would only be achieved in this way. The days we spent with them were our very best. Our soldiers tried their hand at administration and war. We came away with many new experiences. At every stage, we were able to do some things well, and we received uncountable blessings from Allah. One of the most important results was the collapse of the false media empire, since people came to realize the extent of their lies and fabrications. They have also seen the amount of intimidation and fear that the media spreads. But after that, the West and the East gathered against us, and fought us with one hand. Our men withstood the battle like mountains in a most valiant and indescribable manner that words can hardly express. After four months of fighting we were forced to withdraw. The offensive was very tough and it could hardly be stopped before achieving all its targets. The whole world was against us, after the victories we had secured. People became familiar with us, and our Islamic model was well received in the areas under our control. Therefore, the campaign was fierce and had we insisted on resisting, the campaign would have been long and would have exhausted us both in terms of casualties and money. Furthermore, we were under pressure because of the shelling of houses and the displacement of civilians. Thanks to Allah, we withdrew successfully and in time to circumvent their goal of killing our leaders, and taking others as POWs. The control of these areas during one year cost us 500 martyrs, 700 wounded, 10 cases of hand or leg amputation and nearly $20 million. Our position now is far better. The war was waged against us by all parties, but now they have turned against each other, which gave us a rare opportunity for guerrilla warfare and liquidations. We embarked on that as soon as we withdrew. We killed the leader of the campaign, and the rest will follow. We pray for Allah to help us. Thanks to Allah, most of the battle costs, if not all, were paid from through the spoils. Almost half the spoils came from hostages. Kidnapping hostages is an easy spoil, which I may describe as a profitable trade and a precious treasure. The most effective weapon of the enemy was the ʻPopular Committees, composed of mercenaries who have been living off of looting and robberies, some Sufis, the Muslim Brotherhood, Sorouris, and Salafists. Those are the groups which were gathered by the enemy to become a de facto army of the area. The second most effective weapon was the media, which spread lies and fear. The media campaign they waged was no less than the military one, if not stronger. They also used spies and tried to infiltrate the ranks of the mujahideen. By doing this, they have been able to target most of our leaders via drones. Therefore, our cadres and leaders need to be very careful when it comes to new recruits. My dear Sheikh, our most important weapon is the media. You are kindly requested to put in place the right people, who can express themselves well and convey our message. They must know the different stages of jihad, so as to be able to illuminate each stage for others. It shouldnʼt be that every fighter and commander is allowed to talk to the media. You have to keep the message under control, reflecting your real situation, and not what you aspire for it to be. We restricted the statements and appearances of our brothers and emirs, allowing only those we deemed fit, and they were allowed to speak only in their area of specialty. As soon as we took control of the areas, we were advised by the General Command here not to declare the establishment of an Islamic principality, or state for a number of reasons: We wouldnʼt be able to treat people on the basis of a state since we would not be able to provide for all their needs, mainly because our state is vulnerable. Second: Fear of failure, in the event that the world conspires against us. If this were to happen, people may start to despair and believe that jihad is fruitless. For these reasons and others, we deemed that their advice was wise and decided not to declare a state. Moreover, our bothers in Somalia have not declared a state despite the fact that they control most of the areas of the country. Our dear emir, we have been exhausted in the course of many battles and fronts. Despite their undeniable benefit, they are exhaustive in terms of money, men and weapons. We have seized weapons we thought would be enough for years, but as soon as we withdrew, we found ourselves having to buy arms. Therefore, we advise you not to be dragged into a prolonged war. Hold on to your previous bases in the mountains, forests and deserts and prepare other refuges for the worst-case scenario. This is what we came to realize after our withdrawal. In the end, I apologize for taking on the role of a mentor, which I would never been able to do, but for these useful experiences I wanted to convey to you. There may be a person who presumes to teach those who know more than him. Anyway, itʼs the jihad of our Umma, which we have to nurture, so that Allah may help us to regain the Caliphate. I sent you a message in Jumada (the month of May) and was surprised that you did not receive it. I hereby have the honor to write you once more. I enclose with the present letter, the previous one along with the letters of our brothers in Khorasan (Afghanistan / Pakistan). Kindly convey my greetings to all of our brothers and particularly the heroes of Timbuktu and of the Azawad. Your brother Abu Basir, Arabian Peninsula, 18 Ramadan 1433 (6th August 2012)