"I want to tell the families of the hostages that the choice of war [in Mali] apparently made by Mr Hollande will inevitably mean that he has signed the death warrant of the French hostages. Mr Hollande will bear the sole responsibility." Agence France Presse, “New AQIM chief warns on French hostages,” Modern Ghana (Accra), October 20, 2012, http://www.modernghana.com/news/425209/1/new-aqim-chief-warns-on-french-hostages.html.

“We hope that we got our God’s pleasure, and the confidence of our nation, and that we made terrorized our enemy.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“God says, “And fight them on until there is no more persecution, and religion becomes God’s in its entirety.” (Chapter 8, Verse 39) Our first goal is the arbitration of the Lord of the world’s law, and the achievement of the servitude to God.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“[D]id America leave us any choice with this flagrant aggression? No doubt that the answer is going to be no. Therefore, it became our right and our duty to push away with all our strength this crusade campaign and declare clearly that the American interests are legitimate targets to us.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“We will strive to strike [Americans] whenever we can. And we are sure that America is going to loose (sic) its war against us like it lost it against Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s America that is unfair and that started evil and injustice.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“[In response to the question, ‘Do you intend to carry out any attacks on American soil?’] If the U.S. administration sees that its war against the Muslims is legitimate, then what makes us believe that our war on its territories is not legitimate?”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“Everyone must know that we will not hesitate in targeting it whenever we can and wherever it is on this planet.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“We sacrifice our souls and blood to defend you [Muslims] and to protect you from the sons of France and the agents of America. Our nation must know that we are in a war against the apostates and their crusader masters.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“America or other than America will not frighten us, but we never underestimate the reason. We do strive to make the right plans to face this evil alliance against Islam and the Muslims. America must know that when it gets involved in a war with the sons of Youssouf ibn Tachfine and the grand children of Tarik ibn Ziyad, then the region will turn on fire under America’s feet, if God permits it. We will mobilize the sons of the Islamic Maghreb in order to soak the nose of the Americans in the mud, and put into their account that’s already filled with defeats, another defiance.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.

“We believe that our greatest achievement is that the jihad is sill (sic) continuing in the Islamic Maghreb for 16 years. And today it is developing and climbing.”“An Interview With Abdelmalek Droukdal,” New York Times, July 1, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/world/africa/01transcript-droukdal.html.