Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan

Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan (; the Supporters of Islam in Kurdistan), better known as Ansar al-Islam (; AAI), was a Kurdish Sunni Islamist and separatist militant group. It was established in the Islamic Emirate of Kurdistan in 2001 by Mullah Krekar. Its motive was to incorporate all of Kurdistan into an Islamic state, and the protection of Kurds. The group dissolved in 2003 after Operation Viking Hammer. The group was a designated terrorist organization in the United Nations, Australia, Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and a known affiliate of al-Qaeda. The group had no connection to Jama'at Ansar al-Islam, another Salafi jihadist group that emerged in 2007, and was modeled after Ansar al-Islam.

Name

Their official name was "Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan", meaning "Supporters of Islam in Kurdistan", but they were called "Ansar al-Islam" for short. because it was made up of Kurds who fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan, and for their similarity with the Taliban, including how both of them established Islamic Emirates under Sharia, both of their fighters were Islamist but had some nationalism (Taliban with Pashtun, Ansar with Kurdish), and both of them harshly persecuted non-Muslims.

History

Formation

Ansar al-Islam was formed in September 2001 in the Islamic Emirate of Kurdistan. It was a merger of Jund al-Islam, led by Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i, and Islah, led by Mullah Krekar. Ansar al-Islam was led by Mullah Krekar, and seized the Islamic Emirate of Kurdistan from the Kurdistan Islamic Movement after it made an agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and joined Kurdistan Regional Government. The group later made allegiance to al-Qaeda, and allegedly received direct funds from al-Qaeda.

In 2002, Ansar al-Islam had over 700 fighters at its peak. Over 90% of its militants were Kurds.

Iran was accused of giving logistical support to the group in the Islamic Emirate of Kurdistan near the Iranian border. Upon its founding, Ansar al-Islam declared a war on all secular political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. Throughout 2002, the group carried out attacks against the KRG and particularly assassinated high-level politicians, as well as engaging in battles and skirmishes. Ansar al-Islam mainly opposed the PUK. Colin Powell claimed that there was a chemical weapons factory hidden in another location, and about fifteen reporters visited the location, but saw nothing except a studio which Ansar al-Islam planned to turn to a TV and radio station. They claimed that the studio was going to be used to make Ansar al-Islam propaganda. Kurds generally believed the Iraqi government had fabricated the group, or at least heavily exaggerated its significance.

Alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's regime

In a "Special Analysis" report from 31 July 2002, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency accused Ansar al-Islam of being connected to Saddam Hussein, stating that "the Iraqi regime seeks to influence and manipulate political events in the Kurdish-controlled north and probably has some type of assets in contact with Ansar al-Islam, either through liaison or through penetration by an intelligence asset." In January 2003, the U.S. claimed that Ansar al-Islam was a possible mediator between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda, and claimed to have prepared evidence of it. In January 2004, Colin Powell claimed that he had no proof of the alleged ties between Ansar al-Islam and Saddam Hussein. He stated that "I have not seen smoking gun, concrete evidence about the connection, but I do believe the connections existed."

The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence, issued in 2004, concluded that Saddam Hussein was aware of the presence of Ansar al-Islam in Iraqi Kurdistan, and that he considered the group a threat to his regime, and had attempted to gather intelligence against them. The Defense Intelligence Agency stated that senior Ansar al-Islam detainees denied any relationship with Saddam Hussein, claiming that he was an apostate. The U.S. Select Committee on Intelligence in September 2006 confirmed that "Post-war information reveals that Iraq viewed Ansar al-Islam as a threat to the regime and attempted to collect intelligence on the group".

After Powell had left office, in an interview, he told Barbara Walters that his allegations of ties between Saddam Hussein and Ansar al-Islam were false and had tarnished his reputation. He stated that "there were some people in the intelligence community who knew at that time that some of these sources were not good and shouldn't be relied upon, and they didn't speak up. That devastated me."

Swedish fund-raising case

Ali Berzengi and Ferman Abdullah, from Iraqi Kurdistan residing in Stockholm, raised money for what they claimed was poor children and Muslims. The money was then transferred through Abdullah's food stand, using the hawala transfer system. The Swedish Security Service was informed in 2002 that people in Sweden had transferred money to Ansar al-Islam. On 19 April 2004, Berzengi and Abdullah were arrested along with Shaho Shahab, from Iraqi Kurdistan, and Bilal Ramadan, born in Lebanon. Ramadan was released in September after a court found that there was not enough incriminating evidence. Shahab was released in December after the government decided to deport him to Iraq. However, since Shahab risked the death penalty in Iraq, the deportation was not carried out. In Abdullah's apartment, the police found a letter from a man who claimed to have contact with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, as well as a detailed lesson on coded language. The Svea Court of Appeal later reduced the sentences to five years for Berzengi, and four and a half years for Abdullah. The appeal to the Supreme Court was denied. They both are to be deported to Iraq after serving their sentences in Sweden. Abdullah is currently serving his sentence at the Norrköping Prison.

Rohan Gunaratna stated that "Ansar al-Islam has links with al-Qaeda. In fact, it is an associate group of al-Qaeda".

|17 May 2004

|2005

|14 October 2005

|22 March 2004

|16 November 2014

Leadership

Ansar al-Islam's first leader was Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i, until shortly after 11 September 2001. Mullah Krekar in 2001 replaced Shafi'i as leader of Ansar al-Islam, and Shafi'i became his deputy. Two previous attempts had been made on his life in Erbil in 1994 and 1997 at the same place and the same street, but he escaped from both.

On 22 March 2003, Ansar al-Islam detonated a car bomb, killing Australian journalist Paul Moran and several others. The group was also accused of the attempted bombing of a United States Department of Defense office in Erbil, on 9 September 2003, which killed three people.

Another attack was the stabbing of a police officer in Berlin on 17 September 2015, by Ansar al-Islam veteran Rafik Yousef, who previously attempted to assassinate Ayad Allawi.