NEFA Foundation: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi Widens Growing Rift Between Al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood
By Evan Kohlmann
The NEFA Foundation has obtained and transcribed a copy of an audio recording released on February 13 of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leader of Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq" (ISI). In his audio statement, al-Baghdadi was sharply critical of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Palestinian territories, accusing it of being responsible for "a chain of treacheries"--including recognizing the authority of international organizations such as the United Nations; entering into "peculiar alliances with the apostate regimes" in Egypt, Syria, and Iran; and displaying "rampant hostility towards the Salafi Jihadists", such emerging regional Al-Qaida factions like Fatah al-Islam and the Army of Islam. Abu Omar al-Baghdadi expanded his argument further, accusing Muslim Brotherhood organizations across the Middle East of the worst forms of treachery: "The armed organizations that belong to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas above all others—save for some remaining faithful from amongst the [Izzadeen] al-Qassam [Brigades]--have truly betrayed our religion and the Islamic nation, and they have abandoned the blood of the martyrs... Their brothers in Iraqi Hamas and from the [Iraqi] Islamic Party and the Islamic Army [of Iraq] (IAI) fight today side-by-side with the crusaders against the followers of al-Tawheed." Al-Baghdadi called upon those from the armed wing of Palestinian Hamas, the Izzadeen al-Qassam Brigades, who remain faithful to the concept of jihad to assemble their forces and encourage others within Hamas to defect to the cause of the Salafi Jihadists. Addressing the proper role of the ISI in supporting the jihad in Palestine, al-Baghdadi indicated to Palestinian militants that "we are ready to assist you with what meager fortunes we have at our disposal, and we are ready to train your comrades, starting with explosive devices and concluding with manufacturing rockets.”
The English transcript of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi's speech is now available on the NEFA Foundation website. For more information on al-Baghdadi and Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq", see the NEFA Foundation report "State of the Sunni Insurgency in Iraq: August 2007."
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