Just ahead of the fourteenth anniversary of al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on
the U.S., the leader of the terrorist group took aim in an angry speech
at a mortal enemy -- but not American “crusaders” this time. Rather, the
object of his tirade was the leader of ISIS in a declaration of war
that will “irreconcilably” divide the two terror groups in a way the
U.S. may be able to exploit, experts say.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian doctor who replaced Osama bin Laden
as the head of al Qaeda four years ago, in a new audio message accused
ISIS top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of “sedition” and insisted the
Iraqi terrorist recluse was not the leader of all Muslims and militant
jihad as “caliph” of the Islamic State, as al-Baghdadi had claimed 14
months ago in a Mosul mosque.
“It’s pretty interesting,” said former National Counterterrorism Center
Director Matthew Olsen. “Zawahiri until now has not been willing to
openly condemn Baghdadi and ISIS. It highlights how deep the division is
between al Qaeda leadership and ISIS. It suggests that the differences
are irreconcilable.”
Had ISIS and al Qaeda realigned by joining forces, it “would be terrible,” said Olsen, an ABC News contributor.
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