Al Qaeda Backs Libyan Protesters, Condemns Qaddafi 'Massacres'

Al Qaeda's North African wing condemned Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi and expressed solidarity with protesters revolting against his rule, the SITE Intelligence Group quoted it as saying on Thursday. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb accused Gaddafi of hiring African mercenaries and ordering aircraft to fire on protestors, SITE said, citing a jihadist statement issued on Thursday. AQIM urged Muslim scholars, thinkers and journalists to support the Libyan people in their uprising. "We were pained by the carnage and the cowardly massacres carried out by the killer of innocents Gaddafi against our people and our unarmed Muslim brothers who only...