Al-Qaida Identifies Suicide Bomber in Iraq as Saudi Trained in Afghanistan, Chechnya

By Evan Kohlmann

Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq (led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi) has released a new edition of its "Distinguished Martyrs" series commemorating a Saudi Arabian Al-Qaida operative known as "Saif al-Ummah"--the veteran of mujahideen combat tours in both Afghanistan and Chechnya--who carried out a Feb. 10, 2004 truck bomb attack on an Iraqi police station south of Baghdad in Iskandiriya that killed nearly 60 people.  According to Al-Qaida, Saif al-Ummah "was impressed by the sheer extent of the havoc successfully inflicted on the enemy through martyrdom operations" and concluded, "'the success of our martyrdom operations resonates across the world.  The whole world hears the echoes of these attacks, and no one is capable of escaping their far-reaching ripples.  These operations have overwhelmed our enemy in Iraq.'"

Researchers interested in the Arab-Afghan network of the Caucasus should particularly note Saif al-Ummah's reported cameo appearance in the notorious Arab-Afghan mujahideen propaganda video "Russian Hell in Chechnya 2000", which also includes footage of Saudi Al-Qaida operatives executing wounded Russian prisoners.  This example certainly brings to mind French counterterrorism magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere's description of the conflict in Chechnya as a virtual "aircraft carrier" for launching terrorist cells into Europe and the Middle East.  Saif al-Ummah is at least the second senior Saudi Arabian mujahideen commander from Chechnya known to have met his doom fighting U.S. forces in Iraq.  Unfortunately for those who are working towards a new democracy in Baghdad, Iraq has long since won the dubious distinction of becoming the latest stop in Al-Qaida's global jihad safari.

Click to view English translation c/o Globalterroralert.com

TrackBack