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A video tape of a message by the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan to supporters in Turkey was posted on a Turkish jihadi blog called "al Tae'fa al Mansoura" (The victorious sect) today. Abul Yazid was heard pleading for financial support in the eight-minute tape of which CBS News acquired a copy of last Tuesday. "If money which enables the mujahideen to buy weapons, food, and other gear for jihad, is not available, how could they perform jihad?" he said in the statement.

The tape was produced by "al Tae’fa al Mansoura" opened with excerpts from previous Bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri video followed by the audio message which was played over a still picture of Abul Yazid and footage from old jihadi videos.

This is the first time that Abul Yazid appears in a non-al Qaeda media outlet production. He has only appeared in media releases that were produced by al Qaeda media wing As Sahab- since he was named leader of the group in Afghanistan in May 2007.

Al Fajr media, another outlet of jihadi propaganda, has distributed the tape on numerous Internet website. But the content of the message, and the way it’s been distributed, raise question over whether it was intended for a public audience, and whether it received the seal of approval from the top al Qaeda leaders.

CBS News obtained a new audio statement by al Qaeda’s leader in Afghanistan Mostafa Abul Yazid, which appears to be a private message directed towards al Qaeda supporters in Turkey to ask for financial support.

“We, your brothers in Afghanistan, are sending you our greetings and would like to present you with some recommendations,” Abul Yazid said. He advised his interlocutor to treat Turkish Muslims well and be kind to them.

After a small introduction about financial support being a duty as jihad itself, Abul Yazid explains that the Afghani al Qaeda group was lacking “a lot of funds” and said this was the reason for the slowdown in operations these days. He points out that the militants are unable to carry out attacks because they have no money to do it with. Abu Yazid claims that the situation is so bad, that there are many men who want to carry out suicide operations, but “ we can’t equip them because of the shortage in funds.”

It is not clear when this tape was recorded, but it seems to be over six months old, as Abul Yazid refers to former U.S. President George W. Bush as being still in office.

Other al Qaeda leaders had urged supporters to donate money to al Qaeda in the past, like al Qaeda’s number two Ayman al Zawahri, who once asked Saudi supporters for financial support. Al Zawahri’s message was intercepted by the Saudi authorities in 2007.

The East Turkistan Islamic Party issued an Internet statement denying recent media reports about the arrest of nine party members in Pakistan and their extradition to China. “Such reports are completely baseless,” said the statement.

The group warned Pakistan or other countries with retaliation if any of its group members are arrested. “God willing, the group is more than capable to respond against any country that dares seize or extradite members of the party to China.”

The militant Islamist group East Turkistan Islamic Party (ETIM) released a new propaganda video, in which it appealed to Muslims in Turkistan to join the group’s camps in Waziristan, Pakistan.

The 43-minute video is entitled “Persistence and preparation for Jihad” and was produced by the group’s media wing Sawt al Islam.

It includes a statement by the group’s current leader Sheikh Abul Haq, as well as its late leader Hassan Makhdum, whose alias is Abu Mohammed al Turkistani. Abul Haq said “jihad” was a duty that falls on all Muslims just like any other religious duty. He also pledged more attacks against Chinese forces. “The operations of the Islamic Turkistani Party will make China experience the same taste of shame and defeat that America has experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Abul Haq said.

Footage from the group’s training camp showed a group of militants undergoing training under the supervision of military commander identified as Seifullah. Once again, he claimed credit for the bus bombings and the attack on the police station in Shanghai and Yunnan in May and July of 2008.

The attacks seem to have been carried out using remotely-detonated explosives devices. Footage shown on the video showed a member of the group placing the explosives in a small suitcase and covering it with some cloths, while having a radio detonator in his hand.

Seifullah also made an appeal to Turkistani Muslims to join the group’s camps in Waziristan and train on the latest weapons used by the Chinese army’s ground forces. He said that the group is currently trying to develop a training program on other weapons used by the army.

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement is a militant group that advocates the creation of an independent, Islamic state of East Turkestan, formally part of Afghanistan, in what is currently the Xinjiang region of China.

The group is thought to have links with al Qaeda. In its 2005 report on terrorism, the U.S. State Department said that the group was "linked to al Qaeda and the international jihadist movement" and that al Qaeda provided the group with "training and financial assistance".

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement released the third issue of its online magazine “Islamic Turkistan.” The 66-page magazine included a variety of articles on the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the Chinese regime against Muslims in China. It called for achieving independence and declaring the Islamic Caliphate.

It also included an interview with the leader of the group, Mujahid Abdel Haq, where he talked about his years of fighting in Afghanistan, the training he received at the hands of Arab fighters in one of the camps, his participation in the operations against the Soviets and his movements between Herat, Kabul, Bamyan and other areas across the country.

The East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is a Muslim Militant Islamist Salafist group based in Xinjiang province in northwestern China. The group is listed as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and in China. Both countries claim that the group has ties to al Qaeda. Chinese authorities blamed the group for two attacks that took place ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The group had threatened to carry out attack in a video messages posted online shortly before the Olympics.

The most popular jihadi forum, al Ekhlas website, has launched a new section in Turkish. Al Ekhlas also has English, French and Italian sections, which had been recently added. The move is part of a continuous effort to try and reach a wider audience for propaganda of militant Islamist groups and recruitment purposes.