On June 11, 2012, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released an audio message by one of its prominent clerics, Sheikh Harith Al-Nadari, titled "America in Yemen." On May 29, some two weeks prior, AQAP's front group Ansar Al-Shari'a announced on its Facebook page that the same message had been released and disseminated in Yemen.
The message, close to 16 minutes in duration, reflects a recent escalation in AQAP's tone in response to increased U.S. military activity in Yemen. Al-Nadari's strongly-worded address focuses on the unique and eternal battle between Islam on the one hand, which is portrayed as the religion of truth, and the U.S. and its allies and supporters on the other hand, which are described as the driving force of disbelief and hypocrisy. Al-Nadari urges the Muslims to join jihad in Yemen, calling on "anyone who has an [open score] to settle with the Americans" – most likely in reference to Yemeni victims of U.S. attacks – to seize the present opportunity. He also stresses, however, that Islam's war with the U.S. is a "borderless" and ongoing one, not limited to the present fight in Yemen. Al-Nadari also urges the Muslims scholars of the Arabian Peninsula to support jihad, presumably by issuing fatwas sanctioning the fight against the Americans there.
