C L O S E R

Cracks in the Iraqi Al Qaeda Front

Posted on May 5th, 2007 by .
Categories: International Terrorism.

 Al Qaeda has been trying to form a unified front against the US in Iraq. For a while this seemed quite successful but now the front seems to fall apart. There was already a public dispute between the Sunni Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI) and Al-Qaida’s “Islamic State”. Recently the IAI together with other Sunni militant groups (the Mujahideen Army and the Ansar Al-Sunnah Army) have joined forces in a new coalition seperate from that of Al Qaeda: The Reformation and Jihad Front (RJF).

According to ADNKI.com

“The group’s aim is to continue the resistance in Iraq and throw out the occupiers but at the same time to restate that Jihadi operations will strike the occupiers and their agents and not innocent civilians whom we should protect,” reads the statement.

The new cartel goes on to ask the Islamist militiamen to think seriously about the consequences of their attacks before carrying them.

These words, and the final part of the document which refers to an interpretation of Sharia law which can change according to the requirements of a military strategy, appear to be a pointed criticism of al-Qaeda in Iraq which is increasingly isolated within the insurgency.

The terms of reference of the document, which used religious language, are exclusively Iraqi with no reference to global jihad.

There were unconfirmed reports this week that al- Masri, who has been the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq since last June, when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by a US air strike had been killed but no confirmation and in fact a swift denial, via the Internet, came from the group itself. Thursday the Iraqi interior ministry said that it believed it had the corpse of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq.

Last November, al-Qaeda in Iraq announced the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq, a Salafite-jihadist constellation.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been seeking to impose its fierce Salafite philosophies and strategies and consolidate its power over the many resistance groups in the Sunni Arab galaxy, some of whom view foreign fighters and Wahhabis with suspicion. The ruthlessness of its attacks and indiscriminate bombings has divided them from other former allies.

In recent months the heads of the powerful al-Anbar tribes set up the Anbar Sovereignty Council to counteract al-Qaeda in Iraq and have begun a tentative dialogue with some elements in the al-Maliki government about entering the political process.

As well as coming under increasing pressure from US and Iraqi forces in Baquba and elsewhere, the al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters have been increasingly in clashes with other insurgent formations.

According to Counterterrorismblog:

It should be noted that the RJF appears to be disproportionately influenced by the IAI. The new RJF Internet website was registered and paid for by IAI online couriers. Meanwhile, the founding statement from the RJF strongly echoes many of IAI’s recent complaints about Al-Qaida in Iraq–the document waxes on about the need to safeguard the wealth and lives of innocent Muslims, avoiding the pitfalls of fanaticism, and the adoption of realistic political goals that are in tune with the present geopolitical circumstances.

Certainly, the RJF is no friend of America, or of democracy in Iraq–but should it succeed, it will present an existential political threat to the future of Al-Qaida in Iraq. In fact, it is arguably a far more significant setback for Al-Qaida than anything achieved thus far by the so-called “Anbar Salvation Council” or other such recent darlings of the media.

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