MEMRI has revisited the credibility of the shadowy "Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades" and come to the same conclusion it did in March:
The analysis above casts serious doubts regarding the very existence of a terrorist organization by the name of the "Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigades" affiliated with Al-Qa'ida, and with the scope of activities alleged in the statements. Those behind the publications are interested in undermining the coalition in Iraq. However they seem to be nationalistic in their orientation rather than Islamist, while pretending to be affiliated with Al-Qa'ida only to gain more credibility to their threats.
I collected a few other ruminations on this subject back here. But does it matter whether these threats and claims of responsibility are actually coming from a "real" organization and, if so, whether it's in fact affiliated with Al-Qa'ida or not? I'm still not sure, but I think so. Someone is going to a lot of trouble to create confusion and misdirection, and I frankly doubt that it's "only to gain more credibility" for threats it probably doesn't have the wherewithal to carry out on its own.
