Overshadowing Osama: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as Terror Master Mind
Animesh Roul
Research Coordinator, Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, New Delhi
"If they don't turn in al-Zarqawi and his group, we will carry out operations in Fallujah. We will not be lenient," Iyad Allawi, Prime Minster of Iraq said on 13 October 2004, issuing an ultimatum to the people in Sunni majority Fallujah city to hand over the Jordanian born terrorist leader. Preceding this ultimatum, the Multi National Force (MNF) in Iraq has been making raids, arrests and strikes against his command and control centres in and around Fallujah, causing inevitable collateral damage to arrest Zarqawi and his associates.
Who is this Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? He has been heading many splinter terrorist outfits under al Qaeda since he was released from a Jordanian prison in 1999 after serving seven years on charges of treason and conspiracy to overthrow the Monarchy. He was active in Afghanistan against the allied forces in the 2002. Zarqawi reportedly joined Ansar al-Islam group, for some time, that fought against Kurdish nationalist forces in the Middle East, while re-organising his Jamaat al-Tawhid wa'l-Jihad (Monotheism and Holy War) group. He slipped into oblivion for a while and was rumored to be dead; Zarqawi's name resurfaced in US diplomat Laurence Foley's murder case that took place in Amman in October 2002. Suspects arrested in this case have confessed that they were armed and paid by Zarqawi to kill Foley.
Since the fall of Saddam Hussain's regime, Zarqawi and his outfit have been orchestrating a series of terror activities ranging from abductions, beheadings, suicide attacks, and provoking anti-US insurgency in Iraq to new heights. A $25 million reward has been offered by the US for information leading to Zarqawi's arrest which almost equals the amount offered for Bin Laden. Most recently, the outfit claimed responsibility for one of the most deadly attacks in Baghdad's Green Zone, the administrative hub, that killed at least 10 persons, including four Americans on 14 October 2004. This was not an isolated event. Zarqawi and his group have been targeting US posts and other vital installations foiling efforts to restore order in Iraq.
In his anti Shia campaign, Zarqawi perpetrated one of the bloodiest attacks in 2003 on a shrine in Najaf killing some fifty Shia worshippers including the cleric, Ayatollah al-Hakim. The list of Zarqwi's signature acts has been growing ever since. In 2003, he was named the mastermind behind a series of lethal terror attacks from Casablanca to Istanbul. His name was appeared in the Madrid bombings that took place on 11 March this year.
Once identified as al Qaeda's chief biochemical engineer, it is believed that Zarqawi imparted training to a special terror cell on the the use of bio/chem agents for possible attacks in Europe and the Middle East. Jordan's secret service establishment foiled a plot to detonate a chemical weapon capable of killing thousands of people and to attack the US Embassy and Prime Minister's office with poison gas in April this year. Arrested suspects have confessed that Zarqawi hatched these plots. The Jordanian authority has formally charged Zarqawi and his alleged Syrian point man Abu al Ghadia for alleged role in the thwarted chemical attack using suicide bombers. Prosecutors in this case have informed that confessions revealed this group was operating under the name of Kateab al Tawhid (Brigades of Tawhid) affiliated to Zarqawi's Tawhid wa'l-Jihad.
Of late, Zarqawi and his outfit have became notorious for their acts of hostage taking and beheadings in Iraq. The outfit has abducted more than 70 foreigners in recent months in a campaign aimed at forcing participating nations to withdraw their troops and organizations backing US troops and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. One estimate suggests that this group is responsible for more than 20 hostage killings since April 2004. The most gruesome act was the beheading of Nick Berg in May 2004 in retaliation for the US abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison. Those killed in this fashion include: British hostage Kenneth Bigley in October, American engineer Eugene Armstrong in September, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov.
Zarqawi is now overshadowing the world's number one terror mastermind Bin Laden. Previously thought to be a rival of Bin Laden, Zarqawi's network has pledged its allegiance to al Qaeda in a statement released on 17 October, which made clear that Tawhid wa'l-Jihad was in contact with al Qaeda regarding operations in Iraq.
With the US State Department officially adding Zarqawi's organization as the 39th foreign terrorist entity and slapping sanctions on it and its allies, the focus of US forces has now shifted from elusive Osama to Zarqawi. It remains to be seen how the US led MNF fares in arresting Zarqawi's spreading tentacles in Iraq.
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