CRS Report dated July 9, 2007 - Reviewing: Iraq and Al Qaeda’s Regional Ambitions. Abu Musab al Zarqawi and Al Qaeda military leader Sayf al Adl have referred to the current situation in Iraq as an opportunity for the global jihadist movement to take advantage of insecurity in the heart of the Arab world and to spread into neighboring areas. Al Adl has speculated that the ongoing violence in Iraq may spread into Syria and Lebanon, which could give “the Islamic action a vast area of action and maneuvering” and help it to attract “tremendous human and financial resources.” The expansion of violence in the Middle East could also bring the jihadist movement close to “the border of occupied Palestine” and into direct confrontation with Israel, according to Al Adl, which, in his opinion, would further legitimize the jihadist cause and its supporters. Al Zarqawi’s group claimed responsibility for two 2005 terrorist attacks in Jordan as well as a rocket attack launched against Israel from Lebanon in December 2005. The “Islamic State of Iraq” and Discord. Following the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi in 2006, leading Al Qaeda affiliates established an entity known as the Islamic State of Iraq based in Iraq’s western Al Anbar province.32 The group’s leaders, Abu Umar al Baghdadi and Abu Hamzah Al Muhajir, have since released a number of statements outlining the policies and goals of the new “Islamic state” and attacking a number of Iraqi groups.33 A ten-member cabinet was announced in April 2007. The Islamic State and its leaders share the strict anti-Shiite sectarian views of Al Zarqawi and routinely refer to Iraqi Shiites in hostile, derogatory terms while launching attacks against Sunni and Shiite government officials and civilians. In July 2007, Al Baghdadi released an audiotape threatening to launch attacks against Iran unless the Iranian government withdraws its support for Iraqi Shiites.34 The Islamic State of Iraq’s insistence on enforcing their strict interpretations of religious law on Iraqi civilians and targeting members of other insurgent groups, including the religiously oriented Islamic Army of Iraq, has led to fighting that has killed insurgents and Al Qaeda operatives across western and central Iraq in recent months.35 The Islamic Army of Iraq, the Mujahidin Army and the Ansar al Sunna Sharia Council announced the formation of a Jihad and Reform Front in May 2007 as a means of disassociating themselves from what they reportedly considered to be Al Qaeda’s indiscriminate targeting of Iraqi civilians. Since December 2006, Ayman Al Zawahiri has congratulated Al Baghdadi for the establishment of the so-called Islamic State and has reiterated his plea for fighters in Iraq to overcome their differences in the aftermath of fighting between the Islamic Emirate and other Sunni insurgent groups.36 Administration and U.S. military officials have described the divisive, violent rhetoric and operations of the Islamic State of Iraq as a contributing factor to the increased willingness of some Iraqi Sunni Arabs to distance themselves from Al Qaeda and in some cases to support the elected government of Iraq. Source Link: fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL32759.pdf
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:58:57 +0000
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