Al-Andalus: A Sign of Al-Qaeda Central Command’s Increasing Weakness?

Posted: Wednesday, October 21,2009 Author: Kelly Doffing

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib (AQIM), a North Africa-based Islamic terrorist group affiliated with Al-Qaeda, recently announced the creation of a media production branch to publish the materials released by the organization’s media committee. The name of the new branch, al-Andalus Establishment for Media Production, refers to the Andalusia region of Spain last occupied by Muslims in the 14th century. It also reinforces AQIM’s stated intention to restore Muslim rule to the historical Islamic caliphate. The statement released by AQIM declared that Al-Andalus will have sole authority over the group’s future press releases and publications.

The establishment of an independent media branch within Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib signals a change in the relationship between the regionally-oriented North African group and the Afghanistan-based Central Command. Although Central Command has held a diminished role in day-to-day operations and logistics since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began, ceding authority to local groups, it had maintained centralized control of media operations until recently. That AQIM created their own media branch and disavowed publications by any other foundation signifies both that AQIM has expanded its focus and that Central Command is losing centralized control over its regional affiliates. This follows the forecasts of many analysts who have predicted that the United States faces a greater threat not from Al-Qaeda Central Command, currently located in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but from regional affiliates with loose ties to the central organization. AQIM’s establishment of an independent media production outlet, although a relatively minor development in the counterterrorism front, indicates increasing weakness and instability for Al-Qaeda Central Command.