Aden (South24) 

---

Hours ago, Al-Malahim Organization of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) issued the first part of a “special interview” with AQAP leader Khaled Batarfi to comment to current developments, during which he attacked Southern forces, praised the Taliban, and advised Islamist groups such as the “Muslim Brotherhood” to take a similar path to what happened in Afghanistan.

In his appearance, which believed to have been recorded in June this year, Khaled Batarfi insisted that the "Saudi coalition is not interested in resolving the Yemen crisis, but in pursuing its own interests."

Claiming, according to Kendall, that the "UAE-backed militias in the south [the Southern security forces] will take Yemen back to godless socialist rule of the 70s and 80s."

AQAP lives in a state of fragmentation, weakness and ineffectiveness after receiving painful blows at the hands of the Southern security forces, with the support of the Arab Coalition and the UAE, during the past years.

Previous UN and US reports praised the prominent role played by the UAE-trained security forces in South Yemen, and were able within a short period of time to secure all areas of South Yemen in Abyan, Shabwa and Mukalla, before these gains were reflected in Shabwa, after the pro-Islamist Islah forces took control of it in August 2019.

Empowering the Taliban

According to tweets summarized by "Akhbar Alan" journalist Nihad Jariri and seen by "South24", the "60 minutes" video in which Khaled Batarfi appeared, raises a question about "the victory of the Taliban and tamkeen (sovereignty)."

Batarfi praised the Taliban movement for harboring and supporting immigrant fighters. He said that by refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, the group's spiritual leader Mullah Omar had already provided him with an opportunity to launch attacks against the United States.

Batarfi praised the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "victory for the Umma (nation)" because "it’ll have more implications in the future." He said that it was a "lesson" for "others" to seize power by looking for "the right way to bring about change". In reference to the use of violence and terrorism.

According to Batarfi, the Taliban were "steadfast on shari’a" and sought "jihad and tawheed (monotheism)" as "the only ways to ensure shari’a is applied".

Batarfi denounced reports that the Taliban "have changed and become more open-minded".

He advised Islamic groups (the Muslim Brotherhood) that adopt democracy as means to be in power, to follow the "right path".

Relationship with the "Muslim Brotherhood" and the Houthis

In light of the failures of the "National Army", which is accused by reports of harboring AQAP members, which is directed by the Yemeni Islah Party, after its withdrawal from a number of regions in North Yemen and Shabwa in South, Batarfi justified the "recent failures" to the Houthis' tactics of adopting a "special" method to fight, that is, a "guerrilla war".

Batarfi admitted that AQAP participated in the clashes alongside the pro-Yemeni government forces in Marib but says that they were "backstabbed."

He claimed that they in AQAP were "backstabbed" by unnamed parties, especially in Marib, thus "limiting their participation in the fight."

He said that "we can chasten them, but that’ll be detrimental to us, tribes, the displaced and others" as the Houthis stormed the area.

Batarfi hinted at the possibility of confronting the tribesmen, but considered that Yemen was the "last standing bastion" in the Arabian Peninsula to defeat the "tawaghit (tyrants)".

Based on reports of links between AQAP and the Houthis, Batarfi rejected any relationship other than that of hostility.

End the fight

In regards to initiatives to end the war in Yemen, Batarfi refused to accept them, describing them as "misleading" and "designed to empower" the Houthis.

Batarfi claimed that "Western powers seek to empower local shiite administrations as seen in Iraq and Lebanon."

Regarding Hamas and the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group, Batarfi criticized the two groups sharply, without mentioning them by name.

"As the Palestinian blood is precious, so is the Iraqi, Syrian, Yemeni, and Lebanese," he said, referring to countries where "Iranian-backed militias are killing Muslims."

However, he says that even with a religious justification for receiving support from Iran, "these groups" should refrain from praising them in public.

Yesterday, AQAP denied responsibility for an attack in front of Aden International Airport gate on October 30, in which civilians were killed. But he did not address the "terrorist" attacks that targeted the convoy of Aden Governor and the STC General-secretary Ahmed Lamlas and the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.

AQAP appeared to be exporting itself as an "enemy" to the Houthis, but at the same time it accused unnamed parties of "settling their accounts" in Aden.

In March and April of this year, AQAP announced its responsibility for attacks on security checkpoints by the STC-affiliated Security Belt Forces, in Abyan governorate, which left dozens of victims.

---

These excerpts were made by Batarfi, and according to experts, "South24" has not yet attended the entire meeting.

Photo: Khaled Batarfi, during an exclusive interview, aired by AQAP's Al-Malahim orginization, from the twitter account of journalist Nihad Jariri