Draft:Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
| Name | Amir Muhammad Sa'id al-Mawla |
|---|---|
| Alias | Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, Haji Abdullah, etc. |
| Year of Birth | 1968 CE |
| Year of Death | 2010 CE |
| Place of Birth | Egypt |
Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abd al-Mun'im 'Izz al-Din 'Ali al-Badawi[1] (circa 1968 in Egypt – April 19, 2010, in Tikrit), was the senior deputy of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Following Zarqawi's death in 2006, he was appointed his successor by decree of the "Al-Qaeda Leadership Council." He was killed in a joint Iraqi-American military operation in 2010 alongside Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. He held command over both indigenous Sunni mujahideen in Iraq and foreign mujahideen operating within the country. On May 8, 2008 (19 Ordibehesht 1387 SH), it was announced that he had been captured by Iraqi security forces in the city of Mosul; however, this report was denied by coalition forces in Iraq, who stated that the individual apprehended was a low-ranking member of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and not Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
In April 2007, he was designated "Minister of War" by the cabinet of the "Islamic State of Iraq," an organization comprising various Sunni jihadist groups[2]. Abu Hamza was initially a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, joined the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1982, and traveled to Afghanistan in 1999. In Afghanistan, he became a specialist in the preparation of explosives.
Personality and Activities
Al-Muhajir's identity was highly controversial, particularly after July 2006, when U.S. forces released an image they attributed to "Abu Ayyub al-Masri," the newly appointed leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. Egyptian security authorities, however, stated that no such name appeared in their records, suggesting the individual in question might instead be "Sharif Hazaa Khalifa."
He was an Egyptian citizen who had spent time in Jordan and the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. He obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in Islamic Sciences from Medina, and studied under a group of Salafi scholars in Saudi Arabia. These scholars unanimously agreed that he was capable of succeeding Sheikh "al-Albani," the leading hadith scholar of the contemporary era. Nevertheless, the then-legal representative of Islamic groups in Egypt emphasized that Hazaa was imprisoned at Istiqbal Tora prison, thereby discrediting the Egyptian authorities' initial claims.
These ambiguities persisted until April 2010, when his second wife, Hasana al-Yamaniya, confessed to the Yemeni prosecutor that her husband's real name was "Abd al-Mun'im 'Izz al-Din 'Ali al-Badawi." She had married him in Sana'a in 1998 and bore him three children. Abd al-Mun'im entered Yemen using a forged Egyptian passport under the name "Yusuf Haddad Lubayb" and taught outside the capital. He resided in a village for over a month, occasionally visiting thereafter. Later, with assistance from the government of the United Arab Emirates, he traveled to Baghdad. His wife joined him in Baghdad in 2002, arriving from Amman. They lived for seven months in al-Karrada and six months in al-Amiriya. In 2003, following the fall of the Saddam regime, they relocated to the Baghdad al-Jadida district. His wife described him as a complex and extremist individual.
Hasana continued her confession: "I only learned after the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 that my husband was 'Abu Ayyub al-Masri'; prior to that, I had no knowledge of his true identity. I used to listen to the news on a small radio. When I questioned him about the killing of people and children, he evaded my inquiries. On one occasion, he even accused me of hostility toward ISIS, because I asked him: 'Where is this Islamic State of Iraq you speak of? We are living here in the desert!'"
After Abd al-Mun'im left Baghdad, he rented a house in one of the gardens of Diyala Governorate, and a month later moved to another residence in an undisclosed location. This house had two stories. U.S. forces raided the property, killing the occupant of the upper floor and detaining his Yemeni wife, who was released after one day; however, Abd al-Mun'im survived the attack. Hasana stated:
"My neighbor's wife, my husband, and I fled to Fallujah. After the Second Battle of Fallujah, we left the city and went to Zubaa in Abu Ghraib. In 2007, we settled in the Tharthar region. We relocated several times until our location was compromised. Abd al-Mun'im was targeted in an attack and killed alongside Abu Omar al-Baghdadi."
Jama'at al-Jihad
Reports circulating about him indicate that he had joined the Jihad group. This organization was founded in 1982 by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda. Abdelmonem served as Zawahiri's personal assistant within this group. In 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan and joined the "Farouq" camp under the command of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. At this camp, he specialized in manufacturing explosives. Following the death of al-Zarqawi in 2006, "Abu Hamza al-Muhajir" assumed leadership of al-Qaeda. Al-Zarqawi had designated six individuals as his potential successors; among them, the Egyptian Abu Hamza al-Muhajir secured leadership of the organization in Iraq through a relative consensus. However, disputes arose in the regions of Diyala, Anbar, and Mosul. These conflicts occurred between Ansar groups and Iraqi officers who had defected from the Iraqi Army to join al-Qaeda.
Abu Hamza managed to regain control of the situation. Subsequently, he appointed al-Baghdadi as the governor of Diyala Province. In 2006, he raised the issue of declaring the formation of a state before the Shura Council. This council comprised seven groups: al-Qaeda, Jihad cells, "Ansar al-Tawhid," "al-Ta'ifa al-Mansura," the "al-Ahwal" battalions, "al-Ghuraba," and "Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah."
Negotiations regarding the declaration of the state continued, with Abu Hamza insisting on his position. When council members realized he would not retreat from his stance, they declared their agreement to prevent further tension from emerging; thus, they requested him to select a commander from among them. Abu Hamza responded: "We already have a commander." He introduced Abu Omar al-Baghdadi as the candidate for leadership. Consequently, al-Baghdadi assumed command of ISIS in Iraq, while the Ministry of War was entrusted to Abu Hamza. He was also appointed as the First Deputy (successor) to al-Baghdadi, the commander of the Islamic State of Iraq. Thus, the organizational structure in Iraq, including all its commanders, cadres, and leadership, was renamed the "Islamic State of Iraq." Several other groups joined this organization and accepted its proposed framework; however, shortly after the killings of al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza, it completely collapsed.
The Americans only recognized his true significance after Abu Hamza's death; in 2006, following his identification as al-Zarqawi's successor, they offered a reward exceeding five million dollars for information leading to his capture. Between January and August 2007, the U.S. Department of State decided to reduce the reward to one million dollars, though this decision was not made public. In February 2008, he was entirely removed from the list, and it was announced that the reward had been reduced to one hundred thousand dollars. Justifying this decision, they stated: "This man no longer holds the same value for us as he did last year. Our assessments indicate that he is no longer an influential commander on the battlefield; therefore, he no longer holds value for us."
ISIS named one of its training camps in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, after Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
Killing of Abu Hamza al-Muhajir
Abu Hamza was killed in April 2010. There are two accounts regarding his death: The first account relates to the time when the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of an individual in Mosul. Initial interrogations by the intelligence apparatus of the Ministry of Interior and the Multi-National Force (NATO) indicated that the detainee was Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq; however, it was not long before Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesperson for the Iraqi government at the time, declared that the detainee was not Abu Ayyub al-Masri. This individual, also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, had assumed command of Al-Qaeda in Iraq following al-Zarqawi. Speculation continued until Nouri al-Maliki, the former Prime Minister of Iraq, emphasized on Monday, 19/4/2010, that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri had been killed during an intelligence operation in the Tharthar region, part of Saladin Governorate, located north of Baghdad. This operation had been conducted over the previous two days, during which Iraqi-American forces targeted the residence of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri in the Tharthar area.
Nouri al-Maliki stated that an intelligence cell succeeded in apprehending Al-Qaeda leaders, identified the location of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and paved the way for the arrest of additional military commanders. Over the preceding two days, they had been planning a highly brutal operation targeting numerous churches. During the intelligence operation, computers and all messages exchanged between them and other terrorists worldwide were seized; among these terrorists were 'Ayman al-Zawahiri' and 'Osama bin Laden'. According to reports and information, Iraqi forces were deployed across various regions of the country, monitoring targets. Following this attack, Al-Qaeda found itself in its weakest state, with its leaders thus overthrown. All communications, information, networks, and advancements of the group are now under our control. At this time, Al-Qaeda is in its weakest possible condition; however, we must exercise greater caution, remain vigilant, and continue operations. To ensure with certainty that Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been eradicated, greater unity is required. The American side provided effective cooperation in identifying targets and assisted us in the process of examining information related to the organization's structure.
The American army also confirmed that Iraqi security forces had killed two prominent leaders of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The killing of these two terrorist leaders broke the backbone of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The second account comes from the Islamic State of Iraq, which, in a statement, offered condolences on the deaths of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Hamza al-Muhajir and denied al-Maliki's claims that the two were killed in a ground operation by the Iraqi army.
They stated that the two were residing in a house in the Tharthar region, which had been prepared to host a meeting with leaders of the Salafi group known as the 'Army of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq', aiming to invite them to join the Islamic State of Iraq. The timing of the meeting coincided with the passage of an Iraqi army patrol through the area. The protection unit, tasked with securing the meeting location, engaged the patrol and forced it to retreat. This confrontation led to the intervention of American helicopters, resulting in the bombing of several houses, including the meeting venue[3].