1/ Important new video from #alQaeda in #Yemen features Sa'd al-Awlaqi. This rare appearance suggests how desperate #AQAP is to reach local tribes in #Abyan & #Shabwa. The message is overwhelmingly against #UAE, not #Iran as some commentators have said. Iran is barely mentioned
2/ #AQAP's Awlaqi accuses #UAE of igniting inter-tribal conflict & humiliating locals. Lists UAE aims in #Yemen as:
▪️Occupation
▪️Implementing plans of Jews & Christians
▪️Stripping Yemenis of religion, ethics, ties
▪️Stealing resources
▪️Disrupting trade
▪️Creating dependency
3/ In the new #AQAP video (11.40mins), #AlQaeda's Awlaqi mentions "The Emirates" as the enemy at least 8 times (many more if we count pronouns). #Iran is mentioned only twice, and as a relative afterthought following other enemies: UAE, Jews, Christians, America + henchmen.
4/ I see no tension between Awlaqi & Batarfi. Awlaqi's ties mean it makes sense for him (not Batarfi) to front this video as it's designed to persuade Shabwa & Abyan to shun UAE influence. Both men appear together & both cite the hadith of a victorious army arising in Aden-Abyan

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More from @Dr_E_Kendall

Sep 3, 2022
1) Official wire of #alQaeda in #Yemen has just released a plea for freedom by @UN official kidnapped with 4 colleagues in February. It's emotional. Some is scripted, some clearly not. Begs for #AQAP demands to be met or "get the body bags ready" Image
2) Incredibly bizarre ending appears to implicate #China:
Captive reads from script, saying his message was recorded on 9 Aug following🇬🇧Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. He says that #China warned there would be consequences.
#AQAP #Yemen #alQaeda #Kidnapping
3) Other points of note
-We do not see or hear the other 4 captives
-Conditions clearly stressful (no daylight, no fresh air)
-Mentions mental & physical health issues
-Warns of same fate as Luke Somers
-No actual demands included
Read 5 tweets
Feb 10, 2021
1/ Startling video just released by #AlQaeda #Yemen includes leader #Batarfi (supposedly captured in Oct) & looks genuinely new. Opens with dramatic footage of storming of US Congress on 6 Jan. Delights in US domestic strife. Hopes this heralds 🇺🇸 downfall
#TrumpImpeachment #AQAP
2/ In new #AQAP #Yemen video, #Batarfi mentions (at 7.55 minutes) that the USA has suffered over 400,000 deaths from #Covid19. This dates the recording to AFTER 15 January 2021 (so well after Batarfi's supposed capture in October 2020). True to form, he includes a long #poem...
3/ Wait! #Batarfi's spoken #Arabic differs slightly from the English subtitle. He says حال so could be 400,000 cases not "perished" as per transcript. This would date Batarfi's speech footage to April2020. That fits with our last *new* footage from him: his Ramadan lecture series
Read 5 tweets

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