As Sahab Video Pays Tribute To Slain Al Qaeda Commander

(As Sahab Media )

Al Qaedaʼs media wing As Sahab Media released a new video entitled "Winds of Paradise 3" to pay tribute to a senior al Qaeda leader called Abu Laith al Libi, who was killed last February by a missile fired from a U.S. predator drone on a house that served as a meeting place for al-Libi and other members of the group in Waziristan in Pakistan.

The video is almost two hours long and featured new statements by the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan Mostafa Abul Yazid, senior al Qaeda ideologue Abu Yahya al Libi, a senior member of the Libyan Fighting Group called Abdullah Saeed and an unknown al Qaeda member called Atiyat Allah.

The video chronicles the life of Abu Laith al Libi through the statements of the figures appearing on the video, who talked his journey to jihad, its main milestones, his years at al Rewiss prison in Saudi Arabia, his various escapes from security services in Libya and Saudi Arabia in addition to some aspects of his personal life.

There were no new statements by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, though it featured excerpts from old statements released by both of them and also by Bin Ladenʼs mentor, the late Abdullah Azzam.

It also included previously unseen footage of Abu Laith al Libi in the training camps that he used to run, giving lectures on jihad and interacting with his mates. The video closed with pictures of the body of al Libi surrounded by weeping men and abu Yehya al Libi paying homage to abu Laith and assuring everybody that he will end up in heaven.

[pauljackson6]

To correct myself now I''m unsure which one it is. I though it was Attiyat-Allah al-Libbi because he was Abu Leith''s friend and fellow Libyan like Abdullah Saeed al-Libbi and because he looks the same as Attiyat-Allah al-Libbi''s passport photo, but perhaps it is the Saudi one. Since we only saw him from a side-shot previously it is hard to tell. As-Sahab has said an open meeting is coming soon with "Sheikh" Attiyutallah so perhaps that will clear it up. My basic point is there are 2 of them with the same kunyah one Libyan one Saudi/Gulf Arab.

[pauljackson6]

With all due respect you are incorrect. "Sheikh" Attiyutallah (Saudi) is a different man then Attiyat-Allah (Libyan)

Attiyat-Allah al-Libbi has not appeared before on video although he is best known for writing the famous letter to Zarqawi. He is also known as Attiyat Abd Rahman al-Libbi and has a 1 million US dollar reward for his capture.

[larryhammick]

Attiyat-Allah (which means gift of God) appeared in the Sept 2008 "anniversary" video from as-Sahab (the video which was more than a week late, a delay which coincided with the disappearance of AQ''s top webmaster). "Attiyutallah" also appeared in that video, and this new one is only his second such appearance AFAIK. He is a /quite senior/ AQ writer, and possibly financier. Unlike most Arab terrorists, he has some semblance of an education. He is probably the same person as "Lewis Attiyatullah" mentioned in the US Treasury Department press release js2164 in December 2004.