Al-Qaida offers to arm and train Nigerian Muslims
ICC Note
Al-Qaida offers to train and arm Nigerian Muslims to help them fight Christians. In the past Al-Qaida trained Islamists have carried out attacks against Christians in Nigeria .
By Maamoun Youssef
01/01/2010 Nigeria (The Washington Post)-The leader of North Africa’s al-Qaida branch offered training and weapons to Nigeria ‘s Muslims to fight the Christians there following an outbreak of sectarian violence.
Abdelmalek Droukdel, leader of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site Monday, accused the Nigeria ‘s Christians of killing hundreds of Muslims in a “Crusader war.”
Droukdel promised to train Muslim youths, supply them with weapons and equipment.
“We are ready to train your sons on using weapons, support them with men, weapons, ammunition and equipment to enable them defend themselves,” he said, exhorting Nigerians to “push your sons into the fields of jihad to become the fighting vanguard in defense of the Muslims’ blood and honor.”
Violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria left 326 people dead late last month, but Droukdel, also known as Abu Musab Abdul-Wadud, maintained that over 500 innocent Muslims were killed.
