U.S.

Abul Yazid's Tape Posted On Turkish "Cihadi" Blog

By CBS Investigates

June 12, 2009 / 1:02 PM EDT / CBS News

(al Tae'fa al Mansoura)

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.