Zawahri says Libyan group joins al Qaeda - Web

By Inal Ersan

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a Libyan Islamist group had joined the militant organisation and he urged mujahideen in North Africa to topple the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

"Today, with grace from God, the Muslim nation witnesses a blessed step ... Honourable members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya announce that they are joining the al Qaeda group to continue the march of their brothers," Zawahri said in a recording posted on Saturday.

The Libyan group would be the second militant organisation to join al Qaeda this year after Algeria's armed GSPC said in January it had won approval from Osama bin Laden to rename itself Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.

The Algerian-based network has claimed responsibility for a series of recent suicide bombs. Bombings in Morocco and gunfights in Tunisia have also raised fears that al Qaeda could be expanding in the north African Maghreb states.

"O nation of jihad, support your sons so that we defeat our enemies and rid our homeland of their slaves," said Zawahri, naming the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

The Fighting Islamic Group first announced its presence in 1995, vowing to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and launching a violent campaign in the OPEC oil exporting nation.

Security analysts say it is a loose organisation that has many followers in Western countries, especially Britain. But it split last year after some members renounced violence in exchange for a government amnesty.