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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Major Armed Islamic Groups in Iraq |
| 2005-07-06 |
| Qa'idat Al-Jihad Fi Bilad Al-Rafidain (Al-Qa'ida for Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers) The key terrorist organization headed by Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi, born as Ahmad Fadhil Al-Khalaila in Al-Zarqaa, Jordan. Previously known as Monotheism and Jihad [Al-Tawheed wal-Jihad]. Responsible for a large number of car bombs and suicide bombers as well beheadings of captives. Draws mainly on Jihadist fighters from outside Iraq for the suicide bombings. However, it was reported by an American senior military official that Al-Zarqawi's network has been expanding with the enrollment of Iraqi Islamists into its ranks. The organization remains the primary target of the multinational and the Iraqi security forces. Ansar Al-Islam (Defenders of Islam) Established on December 10, 2001 by the merger of three Islamist groups – Jund Al-Islam (The Soldiers of Islam), Kurdish Hamas, and Harakat Al-Tawheed (the Monotheism Movement). The key leader was Mullah Fateh Kraikar (his real name is Najm Al-Din Faraj). Ansar Al-Islam is a Jihadist Salafi movement influenced by the writing of Sayyid Qutb and the military program of the Egypt terrorist group Al-Gamaah Al-Islamiyya at a time when it adhered to Jihad. In an interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Mullah Kraikar said that he had met with bin Laden only once, in a stately villa in Peshawar, Pakistan, which belonged to a Saudi prince. Seven other Saudis were present in the meeting. He claimed in the interview that the purpose of the meeting was to seek financial help for the victims of Halabja. [59] According to a study by Dr. Hani Al-Siba'i, the head of the Maqrizi Center for Historical Studies in the U.K, the organizational chart of this group shows one Amir and two deputies in addition to the Military Committee, the Legal (Shari'a) committee, the public relations committee and the security committee. Following 9/11, Mullah Kraikar sought a ceasefire with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with which it had had many bloody clashes. However, the ceasefire was ruptured following an attempt on the life of Dr. Barham Saleh, who was at the time prime minister of the PUK region. Saleh, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was accused by Kraikar of being the key CIA man in Kurdistan. He is currently the Minister of Planning and Development in the Iraqi government. The group's main camp, which was located in Biyara, Iraqi Kurdistan, had been bombed by the U.S. Air Force in March 2003. Many were killed. Survivors were taken to Assayish Prison in Suleimaniyya, Iraqi Kurdistan. The group took responsibility for the suicide bombings at the headquarters of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in February 2004 which resulted in the death of 109 people. Ansar Al-Islam sheltered Al-Zarqawi when he fled from Iran before the occupation of Iraq. There is no information on the level of collaboration, if any, between the Ansar and Al-Zarqawi. The group has allegedly experimented with chemical weapons. Mullah Kraikar is currently in Norway, but the Norwegian government announced recently that it would extradite him to Iraq as soon as conditions permit. Jaysh Ansar Al-Sunna (The Army of the Defenders of the Prophet's Conduct) Believed to be a splinter group of Ansar Al-Islam. Created as a Salafi group five months after Iraq's occupation. It is headed by Abu Abdullah Al-Hassan bin Mahmud. He was the one who deceptively announced on the Internet that he had beheaded the Marine of Lebanese origin, Wassif Ali Hassoon. He also alleged responsibility for the attack on branches of the two main Kurdish parties which resulted in the death of 109 people and the injury of many, including American soldiers. All its statements are signed by "the military body of Jaysh Ansar Al-Sunna." This group took responsibility for the December 2004 suicide bombing at the U.S. army mess. The Kurds arrested in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan) 40 members of a network which belongs to Ansar Al-Sunna. They were planning big operations in Kurdistan, to turn the territory into another Baghdad. [60] Al-Jaysh Al-Islami Al-Iraqi – Fayaliq Khalid Ibn Al-walid (The Iraqi Islamic Army – Khalid ibn Al-Walid Brigades) The organization threatened to execute a Filipino hostage unless the Philippines withdrew its small contingent of about 60 soldiers from Iraq. The Philippines capitulated to the threat, and the individual in question was released. The video was shown on Al-Jazeera TV on July 7, 2004. In mid-July 2004, the group issued "a warning to the Italian people" demanding the withdrawal of the Italian military from Iraq or face "fleets of car bombs." Al-Kata'ib Al-Salafiya Al-Mujahida Fi Bilad Al-Rafidain (Salafite Jihadist Brigades in the Land of the Two Rivers) The announcement about the creation of this organization was issued in early March 2005, shortly before the first meeting of the recently elected Iraqi National Assembly. The organization declared that it was founded on the pure Salafi program. It distanced itself from "excessiveness, secularists, Ba'thists, Saddamists, and from those who seek to re-establish the buried Ba'thist state." It did say that it was a Sunni organization. The London daily Al-Hayat which published the group's announcement on March 24, 2005, has hinted that there may be "suspicious fingers" behind this organization. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |