( CNN ) As claims of responsibility go , it is remarkably complex and perhaps asks more questions than it answers , hinting at the messy rivalry perhaps engulfing the jihadi world . Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula commander Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi 's 12-minute message declares brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi to be -- in the group 's eyes -- `` heroes '' who `` were assigned and accepted and fulfilled '' a task . It claims that much of what remains of al Qaeda 's command was somehow involved in choosing the Charlie Hebdo magazine as a target . Several times , it evokes the name of Osama bin Laden , and his successor , Ayman al-Zawahiri -- names that , in the current focus on ISIS ' rampage across the Middle East , seem almost to hail from a time of jihad past . A vital part of the claim is its insistence that Amedy Coulibaly , the gunman who attacked the kosher grocery store , was not part of their operation , but his attack coincided with theirs as `` good fortune . '' Coulibaly left a long video in which he pledged Bayat , or allegiance , to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi , the head of ISIS . This hints at the growing and deeply troubling `` rivalry '' of sorts between ISIS and the older brand of jihad -- al Qaeda . While it seems at first bizarre that two groups with fundamentally similar goals would conflict , the differing worlds of al Qaeda and ISIS have been apparent for some time now . Al Qaeda 's franchise in Syria , al-Nusra Front , is hit by U.S. airstrikes along with ISIS , and both are described as terror groups by the U.S. government , but the al Qaeda affiliate does at times clash with ISIS for territory and resources . Last spring , al Qaeda 's leader , al-Zawahiri , distanced himself from the newer , more savage hotheads of ISIS , a move that guaranteed -- for now -- their paths would continue to diverge . Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula 's message Wednesday does n't spell out how to connect the dots concretely between the Kouachi brothers ' disturbed cries they were working for al Qaeda in Yemen and the Yemeni jihadis themselves -- that 's something investigators have to work on to prove . Are there real and genuine logistical links between that Paris street and the radical cells training in the desert ? But it does make some intriguing claims that are partially backed up by suggestions from some officials . The al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula statement claims that the late Anwar al-Awlaki was somehow involved operationally in the plan to target Charlie Hebdo . That is a hugely potent statement . Al-Awlaki , a recruiter and radical preacher for al Qaeda and an American citizen of Yemeni heritage , has long been dead -- killed by an American drone strike in 2011 . Said and/or Cherif Kouachi were in Yemen in 2011 , according to witnesses and officials , although investigators are still working out their exact movements , with Said possibly there as early as 2009 when it is alleged he roomed briefly with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab , the `` underwear bomber '' who targeted a plane to Detroit in 2009 . Were al-Awlaki the organizer of the attack -- someone who laid on the logistical support , financing or chose the target as the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula statement suggests -- then the Kouachi brothers would have been dormant for three years before launching their attack on January 7 . Investigators will be desperate to know if there was any further contact between 2011 and the Paris attacks -- whether the orders and logistics were in place by 2011 , or further assistance or instructions came closer to the moment . Were it the former , this would be a truly chilling sleeper cell -- idle for years , and then , at a moment 's notice , deadly . Above all , Wednesday 's long and florid statement shows an al Qaeda desperate not to be eclipsed by its newer -- and at times , in the gruesome jousting of this world -- more radical cousin , ISIS . The names and faces of their leaders , alive and dead , live on , particularly that of al-Awlaki , who , it is said , `` threatens the West both in his life and after his martyrdom . '' It 's a chilling sign al Qaeda may very much be a current and real danger .
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claims responsibility in Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris . The worlds of Al Qaeda and ISIS apparent for some time now , John Paton Walsh says . Violence in attack hints at the messy rivalry perhaps in the jihadi world , he says .