An audio message attributed to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the emir of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), “surfaced on social networking web sites on June 14,” according to the SITE Intelligence Group. The message was not disseminated through the ISI’s official propaganda arm, the al Fajr Media Center, which reportedly refused to release it.
The message does appear to have come from al Baghdadi, however, who has been involved in a dispute with Abu Muhammad al Julani, the emir of the Al Nusrah Front, over the chain of command in Iraq and Syria.
Al Baghdadi tried to subsume the Al Nusrah Front under his leadership in early April, naming the merged entity the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.” But al Julani rejected this move out of hand. The dispute then went all the way to al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri, who ruled against al Baghdadi and dissolved the union in a letter dated May 23.
In the new message attributed to al Baghdadi, the ISI emir openly defies Zawahiri.
“The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant remains as long as we have a pulse or an eye that blinks,” al Baghdadi says, according to SITE’s translation. The new entity “remains, and we will not bargain with it or back down from it until Allah the Almighty raises it above or we die without it.”
Al Baghdadi challenges Zawahiri directly, saying the May 23 ruling attributed to al Qaeda’s emir is not grounded in a proper reading of sharia law. “As for the message that was attributed to Sheikh Ayman al Zawahiri, may Allah preserve him, we have … several shariah and method-based issues [with it], and the worshiper was given the choice between the command of His Lord and the command that opposes Allah’s command,” al Baghdadi says, according to SITE.
Al Baghdadi says that he “decided to respond to the matter that is violated in [Zawahiri’s] letter” after consulting the shura council of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, as well as others.
Assuming that the message from al Baghdadi is genuine, it is a clear instance of insubordination. Zawahiri himself likely sensed that his ruling on the dispute between al Baghdadi and al Julani would not be easily settled.
As part of his May 23 ruling, Zawahiri commanded that a longtime al Qaeda operative known as Abu Khalid al Suri oversee the matter. According to Zawahiri, al Suri has been empowered to resolve “any dispute” between the two emirs “arising from the interpretation of this ruling.” And, if necessary, al Suri can “set up a Sharia justice court for giving a ruling on the case.”
Al Baghdadi’s message tests al Suri’s authority as granted by Zawahiri. The coming weeks might reveal more about al Suri’s ability, or lack thereof, to rein in the ISI’s renegade commander.
Meanwhile, the Al Nusrah Front has restarted its propaganda operation after suspending it for two months in the wake of the dispute with the ISI. In its latest messages, the Al Nusrah Front has maintained the branding it used prior to al Baghdadi’s power play.
It appears that from the Al Nusrah Front’s perspective, therefore, Zawahiri’s ruling is binding. Based on his latest alleged audio message, the ISI’s al Baghdadi does not agree.
9 Comments
Zawahiri losing his power?
This is an indication and indirect confirmation from Al-Qaeda that the Islamic State in Iraq is active and operating in Syria. Interesting to see both Al- Baghdadi in Iraq and Belmokhtar in North Africa are defying Zawahiri, I guess this will cause a split at the top leadership.
None of this would have ever happened under bin Laden. Al Shabbat is in a state of, what amounts to, a civil war and here the commander of AQI/ISI or whatever they now call themselves has disregarded Zawahiri’s word. Publicly.
In my opinion, AQ, post OBL, with Zawahiri’s (to be expected), near-enemy focus, in conjunction with the Arab Spring was looking like they had a lot of momentum behind it. Of course this doesn’t bode well for the Big Z’s grip on command.
Still, Zawahuri’s been in the game for almost 50 years, weathered a lot of storms and out lasted a lot of people so it should be fun to see how he plays this latest hand he’s been dealt.
Interesting. An Ideological/Theological debate mixed in with Chain Of Command, C2 & issues of ‘Theater Wide’ submission & dominance.
Crazy!
I think it is best to reserve judgment on this story.
It could easily be false, in order to trace the resulting chatter in hopes of locating Zawahiri.
This is big.
The sense I get from these back and forth exchanges over the last few weeks, between al-Nusra, Zawahiri and AQI/ISIS, is that Zawahiri is seen as just another regional al-Qaeda leader, at least in the eyes of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani tried to be diplomatic by swearing allegiance to Zawahiri and denying the merger with AQI/ISI, but al-Baghdadi doesn’t seem to care.
I agree with one of the poster’s here that AQI seems to have this ultra-hardcore edge and a major knack for producing leaders like Baghdadi, going against the grain.
On top of all this, has anyone seen the latest release by Ansar al-Islam? It features a serious accusation against AQI/ISI that once again, AQI has been knocking off Iraq insurgent group leaders.
Al Baghdadi’s gambit was an attempt to restore the status quo ante…
A time when the Golden Chain was sending the big money through his tender hands.
Now that al Nusrah is pulling in all the attention — it has become the direct ‘mail to’ address for all of the big money.
It’s easy to see how religious doctrine must then become an issue, for where to tithe is primal to every imam.
It’s chaos. It’s every Mullah for himself. Where is Mullah Dadullah when we need him?