This isn’t cool, and thanks to Didier for sending me the link to this video. If you want a really interesting background and discussion about the black banner that jihadists rally around, check out this post over at Zen Pundit.
What is significant about raising the black banner, is that it is a call to other jihadists to join the fight. Here is a quote from the hadith about the black banner:
If you see the black banners coming from Khurasan, join that army, even if you have to crawl over ice; no power will be able to stop them…
Or some variation of this quote. It is used as a call to arms basically. For more detailed information about black banners and Al Qaeda, there is a book called ‘The Black Banners: The Inside Story Of 9/11 and the War Against Al Qaeda“. I have not read the book yet, and I am sure there are other books that discuss the black banner that you could check out.
What is also interesting is that AQ raised the black banner during the siege of Sirte. So this is not just an isolated case and AQ is definitely intermixed within the ranks of the rebels. If anyone else has sightings of the black banner in Libya, feel free to post that in the comments. –Matt
The black banner flying on a truck during the siege of Sirte.