“‘Abd al-Hafiz” is another kunya for Shaykh Abu Yahya al-Libi. 

Found it in  SOCOM-2012-0000011-HT.  To me, that’s a really find from the docs and I haven’t seen it published anywhere else in open source reporting before right now.

Here are some verbatim excerpts from SOCOM-2012-0000011-HT, which according to CTC, should be dated 28 March 2007, is addressed to a legal scholar by the name of Hafiz Sultan, and it is authored by someone who is of Egyptian origin:

Dear brother, write [to them] yourself, since al-Karrumi knows you and always asks me  about you, calling you “(maternal) Uncle so-and-so.” Have ‘Abd-al-Hafiz (TN: AKA ((Abu-Yahya)) al-Libi, senior LIFG religious scholar and member of al-Qa’ida’s Shari’ah Committee) write to the brothers, and he should never tire of writing and pressuring them;

Another very important issue is that you must write to our
brothers in the Ansar al-Sunnah (AAS), who are waiting for
your responses to their earlier correspondence and grievances.
Ask for help from ‘Abd-al-Hafiz and Ahmad (TN: AKA ((Abu-
Layth)) al-Libi, senior LIFG official and al-Qa’ida regional
commander), and also try to have a letter issued to them from
‘Abd-al-Shafi.

You should also urge them, the AAS, to unite with their brothers, as ‘Abd-al-Hafiz did on the tape [recording]. You should mention that you believe duty requires this, and despite the failings and problems that exist, disunion is worse than all of that.

In other news, while we’re talking about Abu Yahya, these docs have really helped to clarify my thinking about how the al-Qaida’s Senior Leadership view him.  It seems to me that he is the equivalent of their on-call theological plumber.  When AQ’s metaphorical toilets backed up from unresponsiveness, bad judgment, incompetence or wanton bloodshed, somebody tasks Abu Yahya al-Libi and Atiyatallah to start plunging.

If you recall, on 6 July 2009, Shaykhs Abu Yahya al-Libi and Atiyatallah jointly penned a eulogy under the names, Abd al-Karim al-Libi (aka Atiyatallah) and Yunis al-Sahrawi (aka Abu Yahya al-Libi) for two  Mauritanian shaykhs under whom they had studied back in the 1990′s. That eulogy marked the first public tag-teamed effort between the two that I can recall.  Atiyatallah would go on to pen the foreword for Abu Yahya’s December 2010 book, ”Forty Hadiths on the Virtues of Martyrdom, Seeking Paradise, and More Rewards.”

Beyond those two pieces, they’ve been appearing in As-Sahab vids together for awhile, sometimes wearing matching outfits.  But these docs open a new chapter on the Abu Yahya and Atiyatallah relationship for me.  Both UBL and others in the AQ-GC seem to have viewed them as a combo package.

Here’s UBL talking about the Libyan duo, from the compound docs:

We must avoid the stigma of being a one-dimensional sect, opposed to all others. We are Muslims following the teachings of Islam and we are not the owners of the Salafist way, and must avoid typifying (TN: religious stereotyping) each other. It is important to have a memorandum issued from Shaykh Abu Yahya and Shaykh Mahmud (JB: Atiyatallah) clarifying the issues of penitence, atonement, and the virtue of patience; refraining from accusing and judging without being qualified to judge; in addition to expanding the awareness of the followers in the arenas of politics and Shari’ah, which I believe publishing a letter in the form of questions and answers well help greatly.  (0019)

And here he is requesting Abu Yahya’s works, also in the compound docs:

It would be nice if you can send us the book of Shaykh Abu Yahya (Enemy Usage of Bystanders in Present Jihad), and his book (Studies in Decisive Unanimity) and it would be better that you provide us with each theological work published by you.  (0019)

There’s a lot more in the docs and if I have time, I’ll tease out all the quotes about Abu Yahya al-Libi and dig into the relationship between the two but, not right now.