Abu Aardvark: Sha'alan Unloads on al Jazeera

Three days ago, al Sharq al Awsat reported that the al Jazeera Baghdad bureau chief's brother, Omar Hadid, was Abu Musab al Zarqawi's chief lieutenant in Fallujah. Al Jazeera immediately denied it, and then two days ago put the bureau chief's brother Omar Hadid on the air to show his travel and work documents - along with his tender years - proving that he could not be the Omar Hadid in question. What's more, the Omar Hadid in the al Jazeera interview was only 24 years old and looked nothing like the guy described in press accounts from Fallujah. And finally, as I pointed out yesterday, it's hard to see any reason why al Jazeera or its bureau chief would lie about something so easily checked upon.

All in all, it looked pretty clear that al Sharq al Awsat's story was a case of mistaken identity. Rather than back down and admit that it made an "honest" mistake of confusing two men with similar names (shades of Stephen Hayes), al Sharq al Awsat instead ups the ante today with a front page interview with Iraqi defense minister Hazem al Sha'alan (eerily reminiscent of Hayes running to Dick Cheney in the face of his gaffe!).

Sha'alan, who has long been one of the most outspoken and bitter critics of al Jazeera, declares in the interview that the Omar Hadid who appeared on al Jazeera does in fact have ties to al Qaeda and is responsible for passing terrorist videotapes to al Jazeera. (here's an English version of the story) Bashing al Jazeera is nothing new for Sha'alan - he's been a driving force behind the ongoing campaign against the station, and the source of many allegations of its collusion with the insurgents - none of which have ever panned out. This interview offered Sha'alan the chance to unload on his bete noir. He declares al Jazeera unequivocally to be a "terrorist network", accuses it of not only collaborating with the insurgents by airing videos but also funneling money to the insurgency, and defends his claim about Omar Hadid firmly when even the al Sharq al Awsat reporter sounds skeptical.

Here's [a very rough translation of] the relevant part of the interview:
Q: there is a controversy about the Omar Hadid who appeared on al Jazeera two days ago as to whether or not he is tied to cooperating with Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and if he is the brother of the director of the al Jazeera office in Baghdad Hamed Hadid
A: the investigation is continuing about this and there are indications that he has transmitted videotapes presenting the killing of civilians in Fallujah to al Jazeera.
Q: do you mean the Omar Hadid who appeared on al Jazeera and said that he was only 24 years old and that he had no connections to Zarqawi?
A: on the contrary, he has those relations and the people of Fallujah know Omar Hadid very well. I say frankly, he fought against Saddam Hussein, but with the al Qaeda organization, and it appears that he has these contacts to al Qaeda, and he was among the residents of Fallujah and his organization killed a number of its citizens...
Q: what is his relationship with the director of the al Jazeera office in Baghdad?
A: with all certainty he is his brother and he transmitted videotapes to al Jazeera and what the terrorists needed to send to al Jazeera, and also there was also a kind of material and charitable support..
Q: from al Jazeera, you mean?
A: not only from al Jazeera but it was... the intermediary to transmit the sums of money to Omar Hadid... this is what we were told by the delegation from Fallujah which came to negotiate with us
Q: and Omar Hadid was involved in armed activities?
A: yes, absolutely
Q: even though he was very young, only 24 years old?
A: yes, he was young in years but the terrorists don't distinguish by whether he was 20 years old or 60, he was young but in our view he is a terrorist and by our information is a supporter of al Qaeda.
Q: Is Omar Hadid wanted by the Iraqi government?
A: Yes, we want to arrest him.
Q: Then how did he appear on al Jazeera?
A: Al Jazeera is a terrorist network, and this is clear and we say to everyone: al Jazeera is a terrorist network.

So there you have it. With the Iraqi Defense Minister making such strong statements, you can see why al Sharq al Awsat decided to run the story. It doesn't make it true. I don't consider Sha'alan a credible source when it comes to al Jazeera, given his long record of intense hostility and reckless accusations against the station - look how shrill he gets by the end of this segment of the interview. And I still don't find the story convincing for all the reasons outlined above: the Omar Hadid on camera doesn't look like the person described in press accounts from Fallujah, the work and travel documents he showed make it pretty hard to see how he could have been in Afghanistan at the time he is supposed to have been fighting with al Qaeda, and it makes no sense for al Jazeera to lie about his identity (easily checked) when it would have so easy to come up with some other explanation. I could be wrong - like I said before, I don't know anything about the Omar Hadids in question, but I'm still, shall we say, skeptical.

But at any rate, I think it's good to present all the relevant information out there and not just one side of the story. Abu Aardvark isn't MEMRI. Anything new comes along - i.e. when al Jazeera responds to this interview - I'll let you know.

(note: I cleaned up the translation a little bit since the original post 20 minutes ago - didn't change any of the meaning or content, just cleared away a few rough patches from my hasty line by line translation...)

Comments

There seems to be some confusion even in the text of the interview. My understanding is the Al-Jazeera Hadid is Hamid Hadid and the Zarqawi deputy Hadid is Omar Hadid. Sha'alan seems to be calling for the arrest of Omar not Hamid, despite his depiction of Al-Jazeera as a "terrorist network."

Posted by: Albie | November 23, 2004 at 01:50 PM

Hamid Hadid does have a brother named Umar, but he's supposedly a different guy. I guess we'll find out soon.

Posted by: praktike | November 23, 2004 at 02:13 PM

Praktike - that's how I look at it. This just doesn't seem like it would be that hard to find out the truth about - whether or not this guy's brother is the Fallujah insurgent leader should be relatively easy to ascertain. Like I said above, the Omar Hadid on al Jazeera didn't look like a hardened terrorist who spent a decade in Afghanistan after leaving Saddam's personal guard (which is the Fallujah guy's alleged bio) - I'm not sure how many of Saddam's guard were 14 years old, but I'm guessing not too many. I'll reserve judgement, but I'm skeptical.

Posted by: the aardvark | November 23, 2004 at 02:56 PM

FWIW, the most comprehensive story on Omar Hadid that I can find is Hannah Alam's:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2002097538_realboss22.html

She describes Hadid as "a tall, stocky man whose smile reveals chipped teeth," and as in his mid-30s.

The guy on al Jazeera was in his mid-20s and didn't look especially stocky, nor did he appear to have chipped teeth.

Just for what it's worth.

Also for what it's worth, the guy on al Jazeera identified himself as "Umar Ahmad Muhammad Hadid al-Jumaili." The Omar Hadid in Fallujah has been identified by the full name "Omar Hussein Hadid." Again, for what it's worth.

Posted by: the aardvark | November 23, 2004 at 05:33 PM