Yemen's top al-Qaeda leader Sheikh Nasr al-Ansi has claimed responsibility for the Paris attack that left 12 people dead at the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

"The one who chose the target, laid plan and financed the operation is leadership of al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula," the commander of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said in a video message. "We claim responsibility for this operation as a vengeance for the Messenger of Allah."

"Stop your insults on our Prophet and sanctities. Stop spilling our blood. Leave our lands. Quit plundering our resources," he warned the West.

He said that France belongs to the "party of Satan" and warned of more "tragedies and terror".

"It is France that has shared all of America's crimes. It is France that has committed crimes in Mali and the Islamic Maghreb. It is France that supports the annihilation of Muslims in Central Africa in the name of race cleansing," he said.

Al-Ali called the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack, "two heros of Islam" and revealed that radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki assisted in carrying out the shooting before his death.

He said that the Charlie Hebdo operation "coincided" with the attack carried out at the kosher supermarket by Ahmed Koulibali, which was not planned by AQAP.

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