Iraqis Arrest a Man CLAIMING to be an al-Qaeda Leader

Above: Abu Hamza al-Muhajir

An al-Qaeda member was arrested in northern Iraq – and the arrested man says he is the head of the organization for the entire country.

Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf told Iraqi television network al-Iraqiya that the detained man claimed that he was Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. His captors are still investigating on his true identity as these matters need factual proof. The picture above is a file photo of al-Muhajir.

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is a Sunni militia leader. According to reports, on June 12, 2006, he was announced on an unnamed Islamist website as the new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. This was made days after former leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed from a U.S. air strike only five days before.

The name Muhajir is believed to be a pseudonym. Experts from the FBI and the U.S. State Department does not support the claim that we has named as new al-Qaeda leader. According to their intelligence, the name Muhajir is the pseudonym of an Egyptian militia leader whose real name is Abu Ayyub al-Masri. Al-Masri trained in Afghanistan and was responsible for forming the al-Qaeda’s first cell in Baghdad. There is truth, however, that he was pursued as an aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. His identity was confirmed three days after the said announcement of change in Iraqi al-Qaeda leadership.

But a month later, on July 6, 2006, an Egyptian newspaper released a report that Egyptian lawyer Mamduh Ismail claims that Sharif Hazaa, also known in Egypt as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, has been locked up in a Cairo prison for the last seven years running. Other American and Jordanian officials, however, claims that Abu Ayyub al-Masri is not the same person as Sharif Hazaa, and that Sharif Hazaa is actually the pseudonym of a certain Yusuf al-Dardiri. While others claim that all these names are being used by one and the same person.

“He was arrested in Wad al-Hajar region of Nineveh during a raid (Wednesday),” Major General Khalaf said. “Now we are conducting more investigations to confirm whether he is Abu Hamza. The police raided the area and captured the man who said ‘I am Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.’”

The U.S. State Department had posted a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The man being pursued is a car bomb expert and is surely a member of al-Qaeda. The only problem is that the truth about his real identity has been debated among Iraqi and U.S. military officials. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir translated means the Father of Hamza (the eldest) the immigrant, while Abu Ayyub al-Masri translated means the Father of Ayyub (the eldest) the Egyptian.

Some experts believe that al-Masri carried out attacks in Egypt from the 80s to the 90s, and then later moved to Afghanistan to join al-Qaeda. As an explosives expert specializing in the construction of car bombs, he was a key addition to their movement. Experts believe that he made his way to Iraq from Afghanistan after the March 2003 invasion. While some believe he came earlier in 1999, and met Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the al-Faruq training camp in Afghanistan where he became an explosives expert.

Should we believe a man who upon his arrest came yelling that his name was that of an al-Qaeda leader? The answer is no. If we do believe that the man named al-Muhajir is the real al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, then this man they just arrested is not al-Muhajir; but then again al-Muhajir could just be a random name given to a non-existent figure that the terrorist group used as the face of the organization for the U.S. military.

“Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act.” – The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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