Interview of Al-Wasat newspaper with Abu Hamza Al-Marqashi Amir of the Islamic Wilayah of Abyan
From the farthest in south Yemen, we were present once again in the city of Abyan, the city where many people gathered from everywhere, and where the Ansar of Abyan received the Muhajirin, to establish the bases of an Islamic Emirate, this is what is said by every fighter, because the global system palpated to reconcile with the danger with those who are now ruling in Abyan, and regions in Shabwa, and Radda is on the way. It is the only group that moves outside of this system without recognition of any Western law or charter in the world, or truce or dialogue with it, so it headed by America cannot see these regions remain under their control, on the other side those who agree with them inside on fighting the group, and those who are still proud with themselves and with the trance of the revolution and victory over president Saleh, and their self esteem made them not acknowledge the presence of wide region under the control of Al-Qaeda organization, and that parties in the regime stand behind it, maybe one day they will wake up from this trance when they see Ansar Al-Sharia present in Sana’a before the new government reaches Zinjbar. In this brief interview Abu Hamza Jalal bin Mohsen Al-Marqashi, who is called by his companions ‘Amir of the Islamic Wilayah of Abyan’, draw some of the outlines to the public opinion through Al-Wasat about what is happening in Abyan, the life of the citizens, the strategy of controlling and the future of the group. These outlines need more details to know more about what is going on in this city which the media has been absent from it throughout Yemeni revolution, so let us begin the interview...
Amjad Khashafa: In the beginning we hear from the end of last May about clashes and war between the Yemeni army and a group sometimes called armed elements and sometimes called Ansar Al-Sharia and sometimes called Al-Qaeda, so who are you? Abu Hamza Al-Marqashi: We are Ansar Al-Sharia, are mujahidin for the sake of Allah the bound of Islam brings us together and united by our goal which is supporting the Sharia and implementing it. A.K: But the Yemeni opposition through it media say that you have a relation with the regime because of your appearance in Abyan in a time when it wanted that, how do you explain that? A.H.M: The opposition tries hard through its media to say that we are loyalists, or we have a relation with the Yemeni regime, despite that any rational man who is aware of the events knows for sure that we are the first who stood against the regime and fought it from decades and everyone knows that we suffered a lot from this regime, from killing, imprisonment, displacement and pursuit, and the war between us is a struggle so how do the opposites meet, regarding the timing of the fall of Zinjibar it was simultaneous with the fall of many regions in the hands of many different parties, regions in the hands of the Houthis, regions in the hands of Joint Meeting Parties, and regions in the hands of the tribes, are all these agents to the regime? Or this is a natural result of the revolution of the Yemeni people which aims to overthrow the regime ‘the whole regime’ and all that happened in Abyan is that the mujahidin overthrow the regime and librated Abyan from its authority, that’s all, and the normal sequence of the events and we ask the rational, why the opposition doesn’t denounce the Houthis taking the province of Sada’a, Hajjah and parts of Al-Jawf? Why they don’t accuse them of treachery when there are camps in Al-Jawf that have fallen in their hands without any resistance? The issue is clear but the opposition wants vainly to employ the events and joins between opposites. A.K: So who did you seize the city of Abyan and are all the directorates of Abyan under your control or there are still regions that you didn’t reach? A.H.M: After the people have suffered a lot from the injustice and oppression of the Ali Saleh government in Abyan and plundering riches and killing citizens in the streets and offending them and their honors in the security points, the mujahidin moved to repel the aggression and control Abyan and that matter
happened in a wonderful cohesion between the mujahidin and the people which facilitated the mission of the mujahidin and in a record time, since the people saw in them a lifeline that they were waiting for, and all the directorates of Abyan are under control, directly or indirectly. A.K: For more than seven months you have been administering several cities in Abyan, do you have any infrastructure to manage the province and present services to the citizens as if the state was present? A.H.M: It is known that the province of Abyan is from the provinces that have agricultural, fish and animal resources, and it has the resources of a state if it were exploited in the best way and were utilized for the service of the Muslims and managing their affairs and conducting the public services, then we don’t have any problem in the resources. Also we thanks to Allah don’t the corruption of the perished Arab regimes but rather all of us are ruled by the Sharia of Allah and what motivates us to present the services to the people is the motive of Iman and Islamic brotherhood and not the material benefit. We present security and services to the people without anything in return because it’s from the obligations of the Muslim to reconstruct the earth and pursuing the interests of the of the Muslims, this is what Islam has thought us. A.K: If we move to the city of Zinjibar, what is the nature of the battles that are going now there and who exactly are fighting you? A.H.M: The battles going on in Zinjibar are considered from the most fierce battles since the whole world have gathered against the sons of Abyan who wanted to implement the Sharia on their land and all have conspired against them from the Saleh regime, the Joint Meeting Parties, the Americans and Saudi Arabia, and all those who participated in the Zinjibar war by military and material support, warplanes and navy battleships, and may Allah help us, the fault of the people of Abyan is that they wanted the implementation of the Islamic Sharia and they were from the first who revolted against oppression. A.K: It is said that groups of the Houthis are fighting you with the 25th Mechanised Brigade. How true is that? A.H.M: Yes there are groups of Houthis who fought and are still fighting with the army in Zinjibar and we have killed many of them and we found slogans of Al-
Houthi in addition to songs and night poems that reach our ears that contain curses and insults to the Sahabah may Allah be pleased with them, and insults to the Ummahāt Ul-Muʾminīn may Allah be pleased with them. A.K: You say that the brigades of the Yemeni army in Zinjibar are fighting as proxies of America, so if America wanted a truce or to stop the fighting as it wants now with the Afghanistan Taliban, will you accept that? A.H.M: If America wanted to get out from our land, it and its agents and stops the bombardment and interfering in our country, so why not. A.K: And if the current government the ‘Government of National Reconciliation’ extends the bridges of negotiations to you, will you accept that? A.H.M: First we don’t negotiate or compromise on implementing the Sharia or on the blood of our Muslim brothers, and if the current or other government wanted to stop the war and withdraw its forces, why not. A.K: The indications says that the coming government the Islamists will have a significance in it and even control, doesn’t that cause an awkwardness to you… in other words will you fight a group that has Islamic slogans as you also have Islamic slogans? A.H.M: If the Islamist group which will come to power on the model of Ataturk ‘Islam which is wanted by America and the West’ and doesn’t implement the Islamic Sharia and doesn’t maintain the sovereignty of the country, but rather legitimize it to the Americans and their warplanes, like what is happening now, so I say to you even if it was drawling with Islamic slogans it won’t make a difference to us between it and the former government and the essence is in the facts and not the slogans, we raise Islamic slogans and not that only but implement Islam ‘all of Islam’ in the regions which we rule, while they are rising Islamic slogans and fighting who support Al-Sharia and implement it and ally with the West to fight them, so what is the value of their fake slogans. A.K: How will you deal with the displaced of Abyan if the war continues between you and the brigades in Zinjibar? A.H.M: The displaced of Abyan are our people and I’m from the sons of Zinjibar and we talked to them about the issue of returning to Zinjibar and we welcomed them and came together to them in an image that leaves no doubt that we are one unity, and we promised them to return the services to the city and indeed we
embarked that and a considerable part of them have returned and lived in their homes and the life was normal for two days then the army bombed the city brutally in an attempt to displace the sons of Abyan once again and we say that the sons of Abyan can participate in ending the war in Zinjibar by pressuring on the state to withdraw the brigades from Zinjibar and return them to their barracks through demonstrations and marches. A.K: The opposition insist that you have a relation with the Yemeni president and that’s why it formed the Popular Committees or as they are called ‘Sahwas’ in Lawdar and Mudiya, how will you deal with these committees? A.H.M: Regarding the so called ‘Sahwas’ or what they call the Popular Committees are not Popular Committees but they are remnants of mercenaries and hired who were enticed by money and resemble only themselves and they are lower than to be mentioned and will fall with the fall of the regime, they are not numbers to be mentioned. A.K: Since Abyan is a southern province… if the secessionists continue demanding secession and the Northerners insist on unity, what will your stance be regarding that? A.H.M: Away from the issue of secession and unity, what concerns us is the governance of the Islamic Sharia in Abyan and restoring the rights to its people and that the Muslims enjoy safety and security and equity, after they lived for a long period in sufferings and oppression away from the Sharia and rule of Allah. A.K: What is your current and future plan in the light of your control of the city of Abyan? A.H.M: Our plan is to make Abyan a model to be followed in implementing the Sharia, and spreading safety, security and equity between the Muslims and ending the oppression and generalization of this model. Interviewed by: Amjad Khashaafa Source: Al-Wasat newspaper