The demise of a 'good-for-nothing bandit'
By Amineh Soghdi
KERMAN, Iran - The arrest of Iranian Sunni Islamic militant Abdulmalik Rigi
means the end of his Jundallah (Army of God) group, some analysts believe, and
has been widely welcomed in the southeastern Sistan and Balochistan province
where it operates.
Rigi was captured after a Kyrgyz passenger plane in which he was traveling was
forced to land in Iran on February 23 by Iranian fighters.
Iranian Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi was quoted as saying that Rigi had
ties to a number of intelligence services including the United States Central
Intelligence Agency. He said Rigi
carried a US-issued Afghan passport and visited a US base in Afghanistan hours
before being captured.
US officials were quoted as saying the charges were bogus.
Contrary to reports in Arab and Western media, Jundallah - a small cell that
claimed to be defending the rights of the country's ethnic Baloch Sunni Muslim
minority - never had much popular support.
Jundallah declared its existence in the winter of 2005 by taking nine Iranian
border guards hostage. Suicide bombings and the decapitation of hostages had
convinced many analysts that the group had ties with al-Qaeda, which like
Jundallah also has hideouts in Pakistan. However, no concrete evidence pointing
to such a link has been made public.
Iran says Jundallah fighters have killed at least 150 civilians and police
officers over the past four years, although local sources put the death toll at
400 and say many of the victims were Baloch.
On October 18, 2009, a Jundallah suicide bombing in the city of Sarbaz, where a
Shi'ite-Sunni solidarity conference was in progress, claimed the lives of 41
Iranians, among them veteran Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, IRGC,
commander Nour-Ali Shoushtari and 10 Baloch elders. Passersby and residents of
the area - including a two-year-old child - were also killed.
Aside from highway robbery and bombings in a number of cities, Rigi was known
for taking military officers and wealthy people hostage. Jundallah demanded a
ransom for the release of its civilian hostages and the freedom of imprisoned
smugglers in exchange for its military hostages. Retired colonel Hamid Kaveh
was one of the hostages executed by Jundallah, and several businessmen were
released after a hefty ransom was paid.
In an interview with an anti-Iran television channel known as Channel 1 in July
2007, Rigi revealed that he had limited ties with the Iranian rebel
Mujahideen-e-Khalq Organization, MKO, which has been blacklisted by the US.
Aged about 30, Rigi comes from a small and obscure family that lacks influence
and power in the traditional, class-based Baloch society. Despite being a
member of the large, mainly peaceful, Rigi tribe, which has cooperated with the
government especially in Mirjaveh on the border with Pakistan, he never
garnered much support.
Contrary to reports that say Rigi did not have a school education, he attended
Razi high school in the Sistan and Balochistan provincial capital of Zahedan.
Different sources say he was an unruly student who was all too happy to use his
switchblade knife. He was ultimately arrested and expelled from school for this
reason. It has been reported that Rigi attended a radical Wahhabi school in
Pakistan for a period and was expelled for unknown reasons.
Credible sources say Rigi was addicted to hashish in his youth and sold pirated
music CDs and alcohol for a living. His political and religious views were also
in conflict with the official Sunni view held in Balochistan. Molavi
Abdolhamid, the founder of the Macci religious school in Zahedan, which is the
most important Sunni religious school in Iran, described the actions of
Jundallah as diabolical, saying, "They are not the party of God; they are the
party of the Satan."
Rigi taped his group's attacks - the films are available on the Internet and
can be bought on discs in Sistan and Balochistan markets. Based on the
information provided by Rigi himself on these discs, the number of his fighters
does not exceed 50.
Jundallah's activities brought difficulties for the local people, when, in
response to its attacks, the government partly closed the border with Pakistan
to stop the group from easily roaming the area.
The border restrictions stopped trade, inflicting damage and financial loss on
the Baloch people who make up the majority of the population in the area and
who include many traders.
Sistan and Balochistan province is one of the most impoverished regions of Iran.
Despite official statistics putting the unemployment rate in the province at
14%, Zahedan representative Hossein-Ali Shahriyari said recently in the Majlis
(parliament) that the real figure is 35%.
Jundallah's hostage-taking brought investments to a standstill and ultimately
led to many businessmen, who feared they could be targeted, taking their assets
with them to other parts of Iran.
The political and economic insecurity caused by Jundallah operations was one
reason why Rigi failed to find popular support with the people he claimed to be
defending. His attempt to exploit religious differences between the Shi'ite
majority and the Sunni minority also fell on stony ground, possibly because of
their shared need to combat poor standards of living.
A Baloch analyst said, "People don't support the current government but
insecurity draws them to it."
When news of Rigi's arrest broke, people of the region celebrated, dancing in
the street to the beat of drums. People distributed sweets in the city of
Zahedan and the families of his victims wept with joy.
One Baloch elder in Chabahar said, "He was a good-for-nothing bandit whose
actions only inflicted harm on the Baloch." The sister of one of the border
guards killed by Jundallah said, "If I see Rigi I will spit in his face."
Following Rigi's arrest, Molavi Abdolhamid, who has been a harsh critic of the
Iranian government in the past, reiterated that none of the people of Sistan
and Balochistan province were happy about banditry, murder and insecurity. "The
atrocities committed by Rigi have upset and disgusted everyone [in Sistan and
Balochistan]," he said.
Some analysts believe Rigi's arrest will mean the end of Jundallah, even though
it promptly announced a new leader, Mohammad Zaher Baloch. Rigi is expected to
give the authorities information that will make it possible to identify his
fighters who are thought to cross into Iran from hideouts in Pakistan to visit
their families.
The Sistan and Balochistan prosecutor announced that Jundallah members who
turned themselves in would be granted clemency. Two days after Rigi's arrest,
Sistan and Balochistan governor Ali-Mohammad Azad announced that the Mirjaveh
border crossing to Iran, which is an important trade route, would be reopened,
apparently recognizing a lowered threat.
The province was troublesome in the 1990s when drug traffickers and armed
bandits had thrown the region into chaos. The government decided to grant
immunity to the commanders and chiefs of Baloch tribes, who had fled to
neighboring countries including Pakistan following the Islamic Revolution in
Iran in 1979, and give them the responsibility for maintaining the security of
the region after their return. This was effective in reducing tensions in this
border province.
The government at the time sped up development projects, which led to economic
growth and a gradual reduction in unemployment. Border markets were established
and the Chabahar free-trade zone on the coast began in 1995. There was also
action to promote industry, fisheries and mining.
The current administration of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has been less
sympathetic, however, and has appointed radical Shi'ite officials from outside
to important positions, which has fueled Shi'ite-Sunni tension.
The IRGC announced last summer that it intends to arm Baloch tribes and leave
the security of the region in their hands. The IRGC has also unveiled fresh
plans for the economic development of the region and some analysts believe it
is frustrated at the inaction of the government.
One Iranian affairs analyst said, "The government should direct its efforts
towards educating the people while developing the economy of the region."
Otherwise, he said, individuals like Rigi will still be able to cause
disruption with the help of foreign elements.
Amineh Soghdi is an Iranian journalist based in the city of Kerman.
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