In an interview with al-Qaeda’s al-Massar publication:

“Our enemies are the enemies of the Muslim people, Jews and Christians, but France remains our historic enemy in this part of the Islamic world. France and its supporters, such as the US, Germany, Sweden, and West African countries that have joined them: Chad, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Niger.”Malek Bachir, “France is our first enemy, says 'emir' of new al-Qaeda affiliate,” April 7, 2017, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/france-our-first-enemy-says-emir-new-al-qaeda-affiliate.

To the West:

“…The war has just begun.”Agence France-Presse, “Boko Haram leader warns Trump ‘war has just begun,’” Yahoo News, November 14, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/boko-haram-leader-warns-trump-war-just-begun-093829678.html.

“[I can understand the 9/11 attacks] given the USA’s war in the Muslim lands of Afghanistan and Iraq.”“Radical Islamist defends alleged threats,” News in English, January 27, 2014, http://www.newsinenglish.no/2014/01/27/islamist-stands-by-his-threats/.

“[Tony] Blair et al have struggled for decades to articulate an argument to try and divide the world’s Muslims. From ‘Islamists’ versus ‘moderate.’… It is a great disappointment to Blair that Islam, rather than muscular liberalism is taught in Muslim schools and institutions in the Muslim world.”Ahmed Abu Hayyan, “Blair and his damning legacy,” HT Britain, June 4, 2015, http://www.hizb.org.uk/current-affairs/blair-and-his-damning-legacy.

“It is indeed all over the global media of infidels that I am dead or that I am sick and incapacitated and have lost influence in the affairs of religion. Gratitude be to Allah and with his help, I have not disappeared. I am still alive and I am not dead. And I will not die until my time appointed by Allah is up.”Agence France-Presse, “Boko Haram leader Shekau says he is ‘still in charge’,” Yahoo News, August 16, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/boko-harams-shekau-says-still-alive-still-charge-163016566.html.

“Slowly but surely the hadith is being fulfilled. 70 countries against the IS heading towards final conflict @ Daqbiq.”Abu Jandal, Twitter post, June 22, 2015, 8:03 a.m., https://twitter.com/protocol_siyaam/status/612954026590760960.

“De-radicalization means making people less Islamic, more Western, more secular.”“Dr Abdul Wahid: Expose and Challenge CTS / Prevent Policy,” YouTube video, 6:00, posted by “Hizb ut Tahrir Britain,” uploaded May 27, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9AcHspQwr8&feature=youtu.be.

“[The concept of extremism] is flawed because it rests on a false premise: the lie that the more Islamic a person is, the more of a potential threat they pose. ‘Deradicalisation’ has therefore come to mean making Muslims less Islamic and more ‘westernised’ or secular, using coercive means.”“Cameron’s latest counter-extremism policy attempts to challenge Islam,” Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, May 13, 2015, http://www.hizb.org.uk/current-affairs/camerons-latest-counter-extremism-policy-attempts-to-challenge-islam.

“The Al-Murabitoun movement pledges its allegiance to the caliph of Muslims Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (IS leader), thereby banishing divisions and dissent within the (Muslim community).”Agence France-Presse, “Belmokhtar's jihadist group in N.Africa vows allegiance to IS,” Yahoo News, May 14, 2015, http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaeda-linked-belmokhtar-group-n-africa-claims-001449854.html.

“The West knows that the return of the caliphate is inevitable, therefore it supports regimes that suppress the nation’s movement, represented by the revolutions in Muslim countries, such as in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and others. The nation is alive, and there are Western fears of a return to the rule of the Islamic regime as a result of the Arab revolutions. The caliphate ruled Muslims for 1,300 years. Calling for its return is a tenet and is an idea that does not fall outside the framework of Islamic societies.”Hana Salah, “Hamas struggling with emerging Islamist parties,” Al-Monitor, May 28, 2015, http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/05/hamas-gaza-support-salafist-groups-islamic-state.html#ixzz3c7SXvGaP.