Ansar al-Sunna, al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan to hold new alliance – leader

SALAH EL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: A former leader of al-Qaeda and member of the Dalouiya support council in Salah el-Din said on Tuesday that a new alliance was formed between the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna after the leaders of the two groups left for Afghanistan in mid March. “According to our information, a new alliance was formed between the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna group to reorganize the two groups in Iraq and to coordinate for big operations in the coming stage,” Mulla Nazem al-Juburi told IraqiNews.com news agency. “Our information indicate that Abi Abdullah al-Shafaei, leader of Ansar al-Sunna army, a Sunni Kurd, and Abi Ayoub al-Masri, leader of al-Qaeda group, left Iraq through Iran to Afghanistan in mid March to meet al-Qaeda’s second man, Ayman al-Zawahri, to gain the support of the alliance between the two groups and to coordinate the military operations and to support the new alliance by Arab and Kurdish bombers,” al-Juburi continued. He denied that al-Qaeda and its allies managed to eliminate the support councils. He called on all politicians to ignore differences and open the door for real national reconciliation. Jaish Ansar al-Sunna, or Army of the Followers of the Sunna is a militant group based in northern and central Iraq, and includes both Kurdish and Sunni Arab as well as foreign fighters. SH (S)/SR 1