Senior Salafi-Jihadi Cleric Sheikh Abu Basir Al-Tartousi: Al-Qaeda's Strategy of Suicide Bombings Has Yielded Nothing but the Death of Muslims

In an article he published on his website on March 10, 2012, senior Salafi-jihadi cleric Sheikh Abu Basir Al-Tartousi denounced Al-Qaeda's suicide attacks in Yemen, saying that they contravene Islamic shari'a and that their only victims are innocent Muslims. The article, titled "To the Brothers in the Ansar Al-Shari'a," (i.e., Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP]) stated that Al-Qaeda has failed to adjust to the new reality in post-revolutionary Yemen, but is continuing its policy of killing and shedding the inviolable blood of countless Muslims under the pretext of fighting the Americans and implementing the shari'a. He called on them to reconsider their strategy and, to this end, to seek the counsel of the many clerics residing in Yemen....