Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq reportedly traveled through Iran to meet with Al-Zawahri in Afghanistan this month.
Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq met with al-Qaeda’s second man, Ayman al-Zawahri, in mid-March to coordinate new operations and form an alliance.
Aswat Aliraq reported:
A former leader of al-Qaeda and member of the Dalouiya support council in Salah el-Din said on Tuesday that a new alliance was formed between the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna after the leaders of the two groups left for Afghanistan in mid March.
“According to our information, a new alliance was formed between the Islamic State of Iraq and Ansar al-Sunna group to reorganize the two groups in Iraq and to coordinate for big operations in the coming stage,” Mulla Nazem al-Juburi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
“Our information indicate that Abi Abdullah al-Shafaei, leader of Ansar al-Sunna army, a Sunni Kurd, and Abi Ayoub al-Masri, leader of al-Qaeda group, left Iraq through Iran to Afghanistan in mid March to meet al-Qaeda’s second man, Ayman al-Zawahri, to gain the support of the alliance between the two groups and to coordinate the military operations and to support the new alliance by Arab and Kurdish bombers,” al-Juburi continued.
This was reported in the Iraqi news.
UPDATE: The MEMRI Blog has more on this meeting.
