Sheik Kamel Zarouq, a member of Ansar al Sharia Tunisia, gave an address which was posted online on April 30. MEMRI has posted parts of the video as well as a transcript of excerpts from the video. You can also view the video on YouTube.
Zarouq’s talk is consistent with much of Ansar al Sharia Tunisia’s propaganda in that he explicitly endorses global jihad.
“I would like to declare loud and clear that the Al Nusra Front, Ansar Al Sharia, Al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq, and the mujahideen in Somalia, in Mali, and in Algeria – we all stand united against the enemies,” Zarouq says.
The Al Nusra Front is al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. The Islamic State of Iraq is al Qaeda in Iraq’s political front. The mujahideen in Somalia are led by Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate. In Mali, the mujahideen are led by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which also operates inside Algeria. And al Qaeda is, well, al Qaeda.
Another excerpt from MEMRI’s transcript of Zarouq’s talk reads: “Our goal is to support the Islamic nation, to support our religion, to elevate the shari’a, and to spread the law of Muhammad. Our goal is to pull the nations out of darkness and into light. Our goal is to instate the shari’a, and regain Andalusia and Jerusalem.”
Zarouq quotes the Prophet Muhammad as saying, “Rome shall be conquered.” To which he adds: “Rome will be conquered in our days.”
Finally, MEMRI produced this quote from Zarouq: “This is the age of the Muslims. Gone are the days of secularists and of democracy. We are looking down upon them. We are looking down upon them from above. They are beneath us.”
