Read on Twitter
Thread: 1) Al-Qaeda has finally publicly endorsed the new chief of its North Africa (AQIM) branch, Abu Ubaida al-Annabi, who was appointed in November. It also mourned, for the second time, the group’s late leader Abdelmalek Droukdel who was killed in Mali in June
2) In a written statement on 1 February, al-Qaeda urged the new AQIM leader to obey Allah, his seniors and be steadfast on the path of jihad, but also told him to be kind, patient and merciful to "ordinary Muslims”
3) The latter recommendation is in line with al-Qaeda's overall hearts-and-minds strategy towards Muslims, which sets it apart from its jihadist rival, ISIS. Annabi himself is known for adopting soft messaging towards Muslims in a bid to win them over to the jihadist "cause"
4) The somewhat late endorsement underlines ongoing communication problems affecting al-Qaeda's ability to respond to events in a timely manner. Meanwhile, its chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has yet to make an appearance since rumours in November about his death
5) My November piece on Annabi's appointment: https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c202729h
6) detailed report and context on the latest AQ message: https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c202ck7k
