What Else Did Hudayfa Azzam Have To Say About Al Qaeda In Iraq?
News that Zarqawi has been demoted and ordered to give up his political role in al Qaeda's Iraqi branch is getting a lot of play on the web. Many accounts quote Hudayfa Azzam, the son of Abdullah Azzam, as the source for this information. For example, this account (via the Counterterrorism Blog) reads:
"The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made," said Hudayf Azzam, who claims close contacts with the rebels.
"Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action," said Azzam, whose late father Abdullah Azzam was the mentor of bin Laden, the al-Qaeda boss.
"Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi," Azzam said.
Azzam, 35, whose father was known as the "prince of mujahideens", said he regularly receives "credible information on the resistance in Iraq".
He said Zarqawi "made many political mistakes", including "the creation of an independent organisation, al-Qaeda in Iraq".
"Zarqawi also took the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people and resistance, a role which belongs only to the Iraqis," Azzam said.
As a result "the resistance command inside and outside Iraq, including imams, criticised him and after long discussions demanded that he be confined to military action", Azzam said.
"Zarqawi pledged not to carry out any more attacks against Iraq's neighbours after having been criticised for these operations which are considered a violation of sharia (Islamic law)," Azzam said.
This isn't the first time Hudayfa Azzam has been the source of interesting information. As Steve Hayes reported back in 2004:
...Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden's longtime mentor Abdullah Azzam, told Agence France Presse that the Iraqi regime worked closely with al Qaeda in Iraq before the war. "Saddam Hussein's regime welcomed them with open arms and young al Qaeda members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting up an organization to confront the occupation," he said in an interview published August 29, 2004. Azzam added that al Qaeda fighters "infiltrated into Iraq with the help of Kurdish mujahideen from Afghanistan, across mountains in Iran" and that once they arrived, Saddam "strictly and directly" controlled their activities.
Count Hudayfa Azzam among those who have testified to prewar collaboration between Saddam and al Qaeda. Of course, he isn't the only al Qaeda associate to testify to this prewar collaboration.
"The Iraqi resistance's high command asked Zarqawi to give up his political role and replaced him with an Iraqi, because of several mistakes he made," said Hudayf Azzam, who claims close contacts with the rebels.
"Zarqawi's role has been limited to military action," said Azzam, whose late father Abdullah Azzam was the mentor of bin Laden, the al-Qaeda boss.
"Zarqawi bowed to the orders two weeks ago and was replaced by Iraqi national Abdullah bin Rashed al-Baghdadi," Azzam said.
Azzam, 35, whose father was known as the "prince of mujahideens", said he regularly receives "credible information on the resistance in Iraq".
He said Zarqawi "made many political mistakes", including "the creation of an independent organisation, al-Qaeda in Iraq".
"Zarqawi also took the liberty of speaking in the name of the Iraqi people and resistance, a role which belongs only to the Iraqis," Azzam said.
As a result "the resistance command inside and outside Iraq, including imams, criticised him and after long discussions demanded that he be confined to military action", Azzam said.
"Zarqawi pledged not to carry out any more attacks against Iraq's neighbours after having been criticised for these operations which are considered a violation of sharia (Islamic law)," Azzam said.
This isn't the first time Hudayfa Azzam has been the source of interesting information. As Steve Hayes reported back in 2004:
...Hudayfa Azzam, the son of bin Laden's longtime mentor Abdullah Azzam, told Agence France Presse that the Iraqi regime worked closely with al Qaeda in Iraq before the war. "Saddam Hussein's regime welcomed them with open arms and young al Qaeda members entered Iraq in large numbers, setting up an organization to confront the occupation," he said in an interview published August 29, 2004. Azzam added that al Qaeda fighters "infiltrated into Iraq with the help of Kurdish mujahideen from Afghanistan, across mountains in Iran" and that once they arrived, Saddam "strictly and directly" controlled their activities.
Count Hudayfa Azzam among those who have testified to prewar collaboration between Saddam and al Qaeda. Of course, he isn't the only al Qaeda associate to testify to this prewar collaboration.
posted by Thomas Joscelyn at 5:00 PM
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