Prominent leaders of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb announced their support of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant ISIS, in the fierce war against the state in Syria, the official ISIS blog published on Saturday. The Arab Maghreb is part of the Middle East and includes Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya. The Qaeda statement, signed by the Emir of the organization in Maghreb, Abu Sohaib Osama and other top commanders, praised the "bravery" of the ISIS "mujahideen" and their patience in the face of "harm, scourge and treachery," announcing their support of the state and the Khalifa (Caliph), Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Al Qaeda's branch in Maghreb called on all Mujahideen in Iraq and the Levant to join ISIS and pledge allegiance to the Khalifa Al Baghdadi. It forbade them to fight the Islamic state, and called on all fighters to "repent" and stop fighting Muslims. Moreover, they called on people who denounced the IS in the media to revise their position, make up for their mistake and announce their alliance to IS, publicly. ISIS drew widespread condemnation recently, after it burned alive Jordanian pilot Moath Al Kasasbeh on Feb. 3. Jordan has been expanding its airstrikes against the organization's positions in Syria ever since, to avenge Kasasbeh's death.
