It is a world that he says he could easily leave again. “I want to send the message that I am ready to die for my religion any time,” he said in an interview last month, his first since his release. “I have nothing to lose in life. Today I know that demonstrations and protests don’t help, and today I know that the West is lying about its freedom of speech and human rights.”
According to interviews with Arab, American and European intelligence officials, as well as investigative files, Mr. Mahmoud combines a gift for inspiring followers, a knack for tapping into the power of the Internet and a virtual Rolodex of Qaeda leadership connections, many made in prison or in training camps.
In short, these officials say, Mr. Mahmoud represents a wave of young heirs apparent to take over the role of Al Qaeda’s propagandist in chief from Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric turned militant leader who was killed by an American missile strike in Yemen in September.
“Mahmoud’s aggressive re-entry into the j has garnered him significant attention among German-language jihadi adherents,” said Jarret Brachman, author of “Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice” and a consultant to the United States government on terrorism
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