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Ansar al-Islam refuses to lie
down
By Valentinas Mite
PRAGUE - The United States lists Ansar al-Islam,
a radical Kurdish Islamist group, as a terrorist
organization and accuses it of having links to the
al-Qaeda terrorist network. But there is little direct
evidence to support the charge or to prove that the
group is behind terrorist acts in Iraq.
Last
week's detention in Oslo of Mullah Krekar, the group's
founder and spiritual leader, has brought Ansar al-Islam
back into the spotlight. It's the second time in a year
that Krekar has been held by Norwegian authorities. He
is likely to be released soon, however, since a court
has ruled that there is not enough evidence to link him
to planning terror attacks in Iraq.
Krekar, born
Najm al-Din Faraj Ahmad, was granted political asylum as
a Kurdish refugee by Norway in 1991. But in the years
since, he is known to have frequently visited Kurdistan
in northern Iraq, where in 2001 he founded Ansar
al-Islam, or "Supporters of Islam". He is still believed
to be an important figure in the organization, though he
denies any connection to terrorist
activities.
Paul Wilkinson is a professor at the
Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence
at St Andrew's University in Scotland. He says that the
decision of the Norwegian court to free Krekar is
logical. "I can understand the Norwegian court's great
difficulty on this matter because there is a lack of
really crucial evidence that would be required to prove
the connection," Wilkinson said.
Many others
think differently. The US military believes that the
group is behind a series of unsolved car bombings and
deadly suicide attacks in Baghdad. Last September,
speaking in Oslo, US Attorney General John Ashcroft
called Ansar al-Islam a "very dangerous group".
A member of the Iraqi Governing Council,
Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i, agrees. In an interview with
RFE/RL, he said that there is no doubt that Ansar
al-Islam is an extremist group that is "adopting
violence to implement its ideology".
However,
al-Rubay'i admits that there is only indirect evidence
to support his claim. "Well, I'm not a judge. I'm not a
court. But I believe there is substantial evidence - I
should say circumstantial evidence, as well - to connect
this organization to acts of terrorism in Iraq,"
al-Rubay'i said.
The Kurdish Sunni militant
organization was created and initially based in northern
Iraq, northeast of the town of Halabjah in Sulaimaniyah
province, bordering Iran. The group split from the
Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, the third-most
significant political force in Iraqi Kurdistan at the
time. Ansar al-Islam reportedly has less than 1,000
members. Its ideology entails a literal interpretation
of the Koran and advocates a return to the proclaimed
purity of the early Islamic community.
Representatives of the New York-based rights
group Human Rights Watch (HRW) visited Ansar al-Islam
camps in 2002. In a report, HRW says that, in its early
days, the group issued decrees ordering women to wear
veils, men to grow beards, the segregation of the sexes,
banning music and barring women from education and
employment. The group also said it favored Islamic
punishments - amputations and floggings - sometimes to
the death - for offenses such as theft, the consumption
of alcohol, and adultery.
Human Rights Watch
says that the group is responsible for numerous human
right violations - such as illegal detentions, the
killing of combatants after surrender, and torture.
Ansar Al-Islam says that it seeks to offer an
alternative to "secular" Kurdish political parties, such
as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the
Kurdish Democratic Party. In the 1990s, numerous clashes
were reported between PUK forces, which controlled the
region, and Ansar al-Islam.
During last year's
invasion of Iraq, US forces bombed suspected Ansar
al-Islam bases.
Sami Shoresh of RFE/RL's Iraq
Service says that the US attacks did not put an end to
the militant group, however. Members likely found
shelter in the so-called Sunni triangle north of
Baghdad, or in the capital itself. Shoresh says that he
has little doubt that the group is fighting against US
troops in Tikrit, al-Fallujah and Mosul. He also
believes Ansar al-Islam is likely to have connections to
al-Qaeda, as well as support from Iran. Human Rights
Watch says that "the existence of any ongoing links
between al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Islam is unknown."
Al-Rubay'i insists that Ansar al-Islam is part
of a wider terrorist network. "I believe it's part of a
terrorist network, the worldwide terrorist network," he
said. "There is evidence. As I said, [the evidence] is
substantial, but [it] is circumstantial evidence."
Terrorism expert Wilkinson says that some
members of the group may have contact with al-Qaeda, but
he says that he's not convinced that Ansar al-Islam is
part of any vast network. "I know that it has been
alleged that it has been penetrated by al-Qaeda, and in
some claims it is claimed that they are totally
controlled by them. It is very hard to substantiate
that. I have looked through the literature and all the
open sources. Obviously, we are an academic institution
so we don't have access to classified sources. But in
the open source material, it's very difficult to find
anything that would conclusively show that they are an
agent of al-Qaeda," Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson
says that there is no doubt that the group survived the
attacks by US forces. He says that Ansar al-Islam was
able to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Iraq
and has survived in these new circumstances. But he says
that there is no evidence that the group was able to
join the factional fighting in Iraq and that its members
have been fighting along with the Sunni Arab-led
resistance. Wilkinson says the group "may have its own
agenda".
Copyright (c) 2002, RFE/RL Inc.
Reprinted with the permission of Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut
Ave NW, Washington DC 20036
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