The US State Department posted a $7 million reward Wednesday for information leading to the location or identification of Abu Ubaydah Youssef Al-Annabi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The department said Anabi was declared the emir of the northern Africa region branch of Al-Qaeda in November 2020 and his predecessor, Abdelmalek Droukdel, was killed five months earlier. It said Anabi is an Algerian citizen also known as Yazid Mubarak. He has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri as AQIM’s leader, according to the State Department. Previously he was on AQIM’s Council of Notables, its Shura Council, and also has acted as the AQIM media chief. In 2015 the State Department listed him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
AFP
Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi
Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi (Arabic: أبو عبيدة يوسف العنابي; born 1 January or 7 February 1969), also known by Yezid Mebarek, is an Algerian Islamist jihadi militant who is the current emir, or leader, of the Algerian Islamic militant group Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), formerly the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). In November 2020, he was named emir, replacing Abdelmalek Droukdel who was killed during a French special operation during the Battle of Talahandak.[2]
The U.S. Rewards for Justice Program is offering up to $7 million in exchange for information leading to al-Annabi's apprehension.
Biography
Youssef al-Annabi was born in Annaba, Algeria.[3] After studying economics at the University of Constantine, he became an active militant of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), an Islamist party created in 1989. A year after the end of the electoral process in January 1992, Youssef al-Annabi, freshly graduated, joined the ranks of the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS) to fight in the Algerian Civil War, then those of the GIA where he met Abdelmalek Droukdel in 1996.[4]
He rose in rank by participating in the creation of the GSPC in 1998. In November 2009, Youssef narrowly escaped death when he fell into an ambush by the Algerian army in the maquis of Imsouhel, in the wilaya of Tizi Ouzou.[4]
After the death of Abdelmalek Droukdel, AQIM announced on November 21, 2020 that Abu Ubaidah Youssef al-Annabi had been appointed to succeed him.[5]
On 29 September 2015, the U.S. State Department designated al-Annabi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224.[6]
On 28 March 2023, the government of Burkina Faso suspended the broadcasting of French state-owned media France 24 after they aired an interview with al-Annabi. The country's information minister described the channel as, "not only acting as a mouthpiece for these terrorists but worse".[7]
See also
References
- ^ "Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi". Rewards for Justice. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
- ^ "Al-Qaeda in North Africa appoints new leader after killing". Al Jazeera. 22 November 2020. Archived from the original on 17 December 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ "Les menaces terroristes d'Aqmi prises «au sérieux» par la France". RFI (in French). 7 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Qui est le nouveau chef d'Aqmi, Abou Obeida Yousouf al-Annabi ? – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ "AQMI désigne son nouveau dirigeant pour remplacer Abdelmalek Droukdel". LEFIGARO (in French). 21 November 2020. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
- ^ "Abu Ubaydah Yusuf al-Anabi". Counter Extremism Project. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ Tasamba, James (27 March 2023). "Burkina Faso blocks France 24 broadcasts over al-Qaeda interview". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
