DAR AL ISLAM - AFGHANISTAN: AL QUEDAS NEW #1 IN AFGHANISTAN INTRODUCES HIMSELF & MAKES A PLEA FOR CASH

Qaeda leader in Afghanistan money man behind Bin Laden

DUBAI (AFP) - Mustafa Abu Yazid, reported by the Al-Jazeera television channel to be the new head of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, is a former treasurer to Osama bin Laden and a founder member of his network, according to an expert on Islamist groups who knew him personally.

"Mustafa Abu Yazid, also known as Said, has come forward as the general director of the Al-Qaeda organisation in Afghanistan," the Qatar-based channel reported on Thursday, airing video extracts of a black-bearded man with thick glasses and a white turban.

The expert on Islamist groups, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Abu Yazid would replace Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, an Iraqi and high-ranking member of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, whose arrest was announced by the United States in April.

"Mustafa Abu Yazid is a former member of Egyptian Jihad who enjoys the confidence of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden," he said.

In the 45-minute video Yazid spoke about Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

He punctuated his speech with verses from the Koran and quotes from the Western media, including an April 2 New York Times article.

"In Afghanistan the mujahedeen expecially need money. We have hundreds of volunteers for martyrdom operations, but don't have the money to equip them," he said, appealing for funds from "Muslims all over the world."

According to Yasser al-Sirri, the director of the London-based Islamic Observatory, Yazid "was born in December 1955 in the Al-Sharqiya area of the Nile Delta."

Sirri said Yazid was "trusted by Bin Laden, for whom he ran businesses in Sudan" when the founder of Al-Qaeda lived in exile there before Khartoum expelled him in 1996.

"Yazid is known for his integrity and management skills, but has never taken organisational or military responsibility at the heart of Al-Qaeda, of which he was one of the founders in 1989," Sirri said.

Yazid is on the list of 27 individuals, organisations and charities whose assets were frozen by the US Treasury in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

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1) Qaeda leader in Afghanistan money man behind Bin Laden