Abdullah al-Janabi v al-Qaeda

Last week, al-Jazeera aired a long interview with Abdullah al-Janabi, the former head of the Mujahideen Shura Council in Fallujah.  Janabi played a major role in both 2004 battles over Fallujah.  He eluded capture at the end of the second battle, and was rumoured to be hiding out in Damascus (he's still on the American and Iraqi most-wanted lists, as far as I know). In this first public appearance in more than two years, he seemed very much alive. Alas, his very interesting interview seems to have received very little if any attention in English.

Much of the discussion revolved around the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgency.  Janabi said that the Mujahideen Shura Council had been open to all who came to fight jihad and defend Iraq, but that the MSC had no formal relationship with the al-Qaeda organization.  Tensions rose when some of these volunteers began doing things which no true Muslim could do, said Janabi, carrying out a series of increasingly unacceptable acts - some of which he proceeded to detail (the usual catalogue of killings, disrespect, takfir and arrogance).  His criticisms of al-Qaeda are not exactly new:   back in 2004, he consistently denied the importance of al-Qaeda or foreign fighters ("The resistance has never been under the control of foreigners. The people of Fallujah do not need foreigners to fight for them.")  

Janabi very sharply criticized the declaration of the Islamic State of Iraq as one of the worst of the transgressions.  The most basic condition for a state is that it should be chosen by those it rules, said Janabi, and the ISI most certainly was not.  They are not the only mujahideen in Iraq, with Iraqis being the dominant presence in the insurgency (he gives the figure of 95%).  He called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi's demand that all mujahideen in Iraq fight under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq a joke.  As for the future, Janabi said that the insurgency would continue until the occupiers leave  Iraq and a government which respects human rights and Islam is created - nationalist, not globalist goals, placing him firmly on the anti-AQ side of the current great insurgency debate.  Janabi claimed that 80% of the insurgency's fighters shared this vision, and that they had political projects ready to go as soon as the occupiers left.

Criticisms of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq abound these days, but the source here is extremely interesting.  It gives some fresh insight into the attitudes of the Sunni insurgency, and the real origins of the current intra-insurgency battles, along with yet another clear claim that an American commitment to withdrawal would be well received by the majority of the insurgency.  While he does not seem to be currently in a leadership role (his answer to questions about that was kind of fuzzy), Janabi remains well-connected and a widely influential figure, whose rare intervention will likely have some impact, especially in the Iraqi Sunni community which follows al-Jazeera carefully.

Comments

[Craig]

and a government which respects human rights and Islam is created

Maybe it's stupidities like this statement that limit the western press's interest in him, eh? He obviously has no concept what the word "human rights" means, he just throws it in there because it sounds noble and shit. He'll damn sure be in the western press when he's dead, though.