 A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Shah Hussain Murtazawi described these environmentally friendly messages as an attempt to deceive public opinion and to distract from the Taliban's "crimes and destruction".On February 9, 2012, Mukhtar Abu al-Zubair "Godane" announced in a fifteen-minute video message that al-Shabaab would be joining the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda, under the leadership of Ayman al-Zawahiri.Al-Zubair stated, "On behalf of the soldiers and the commanders in al-Shabaab, we pledge allegiance to you.