Algerian al Qaeda loses its PR man

Reuters:

AN al-Qaeda affiliated "propaganda" man in charge of supplying Al Jazeera with videos and online documentation has surrendered, saying he regreted what he had been doing, Algerian daily Liberte said today.

The daily, quoting unnamed security sources, said Abu Abderahmane had used the internet to communicate with the Qatar-based channel, as well as sending it videos, and CDs either directly to Doha or its Morocco branch.

"I felt guilty, and I regret what I was doing," Abu Abderahmane was quoted as saying by unnamed security sources in Algiers.

Abderahmane's Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group grew out of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in January after winning approval from Osama bin Laden to rename itself an al-Qaeda affiliate.

Since then the Islamists have launched a wave of deadly attacks targeting Algerian security and Western interests.

Analysts say the use of suicide bombers, more lethal bomb-making technology, fund-raising from criminal rackets and a sophisticated web-based publicity machine have helped the rebels stay active.

...

This is a bigger loss for al Qaeda than you might think. Zawahiri has said that half of their war effort is in the media battle space. Not only has al Qaeda lost the guy who facilitates that for the Algerian franchise, but he has turned himself in and can therefore describe how the media campaign works and what resources al Qaeda has for getting the information to al Jazeera. It may gives us a link back to the leadership and the directions they give the media campaign also.

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