Islamic Army in Iraq

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Islamic Army redirects here. For the Palestinian militant group, see Palestinian Army of Islam.

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The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) (Arabic: الجيش الإسلامي في العراق,al jaysh al islāmi fī'l-`irāq) is one of a number of underground Baathist, Islamist, militant, or mujaheddin, organizations formed in Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States and coalition military forces and the subsequent collapse of the Baathist government headed by Saddam Hussein. Although it carries an Islamic title, the group is thought to be the largest militant group that consists of former Baathists and has been labelled as "resistance" by Iraq's Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi despite regular attacks against Iraqi soldiers and policemen and Shi'ite militias such as the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization.

1 Founding
2 Ideology
3 Noted Kidnappings
4 External links

[edit] Founding

The precise details about the emergence of the IAI are unclear although it is generally assumed that the group was established sometime during the summer of 2003 to fight coalition forces.[1]

[edit] Ideology

When it first formed it appeared to have the same ideologies as Al-Qaeda, mainly because it used kidnapping as a means of pursuing its goals. The group also threatened to target the January 2005 elections, although it didn't carry out any such attack.

However, other events have lead people to believe that IAI is different from Al-Qaeda, and that it has some kind of a trend towards the Muslim Brotherhood movement. A report on Al-Jazeera's Arabic website [2] said that the group is Salafi in general, but includes members of a Muslim Brotherhood background.

Unlike most resistance movement organizations today the IAI does not have salafist tendencies, its primary focus and goal being the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. A November 28, 2004 Washington Post interview with the group's current leader, Ishmael Jubouri, stated that the IAI was predominantly comprised of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and Arabs) trying to force foreign troops out of Iraq.[3] The Terrorism Monitor put out by The Jamestown Foundation confirms some of what Jubouri was claiming. In a March 2005 article it states the group is composed primarily of Sunnis with a much smaller, but still present, Shiite congregation and, in general, is "[an] inclusive Islamic organization with Iraqi nationalist tendencies."[4] In a Nov. 2006 Al-Jazeera interview, spokesman Ibrahim al-Shamary expanded on who the IAI considers foreign troops, "There are two occupations in Iraq. Iran on one side through the militias which they control and through direct involvement with the national guard and the intelligence services, that causes the killing and destruction of the Sunnis... And then there is the American occupation which destroys the Iraqi people." [5]

The group has released several joint statements (communiqués) with other groups such as Islamic Resistance Movement and the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance, which are know to be of an ikhwan background. In one of these joint statements, six groups (including the IAI) called for Iraqis to participate in the referendum on the constitution (October 2005) by voting against it; this stands in conspicuous contrast to Al-Qaeda, which said that simply participating in voting is a compromise of the basic fundamentals of Islam, even if one were to vote against it.

When rumours spread in Iraq of the alleged demolition of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in April 2005 the IAI announced the formation of the “al-Aqsa Support Division.” This group was to support the Palestinians in their armed struggle against Israel. The current status of the al-Aqsa Support Division is unknown, leading people to believe that the statement was merely rhetoric.

[edit] Noted Kidnappings

The Islamic Army in Iraq, was responsible for the abduction of the following persons who were released unharmed:

Iranian Consul Fereidoun Jahani;
Georges Malbrunot, 41, and Christian Chesnot, 37, French journalists;
Marwan Ibrahim al-Kassar and Mohammed Jawdat Hussein, Lebanese electrical workers.
Angelo Dela Cruz, Filipino truck driver.
Rosidah Binti Anom, and Rafikan Binti Amin, female Indonesian nationals.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is believed responsible for the execution of the following persons:

Enzo Baldoni, Italian journalist killed on or about August 26, 2004;
Raja Azad, 49, engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, his driver, Pakistani nationals working in Iraq for a Kuwaiti-based firm killed on or about July 28, 2004;
Dalibor Lazarevski, Dragan Markovic, and Zoran Naskovski, nationals of Republic of Macedonia, working for United Arab Emirates-based Soufan Engineering on contracts and subcontracts for the U.S. military and its private contractors. They were seized in August 2004 and the Macedonian government confirmed their execution by October 21, 2004. Receipt of videos depicting two beheadings were announced, but not broadcast, on Al Jazeera TV on October 17, 2004;
Ronald Schulz, American Contract Electrician, killed around December 8, 2005.

In addition, the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility for the September 1, 2004 assassination attempt against Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress, in which two of his bodyguards were killed, two were wounded and two went missing. The Islamic Army of Iraq admitted capturing one of Chalabi's bodyguards. Chalabi escaped unharmed. A video of one of the bodyguards air on Al Jazeera. In it, the captive bodyguard says that the other missing bodyguard was killed. In the same video, The Islamic Army claims that the body guard died of gunshot wounds he received in the ambush but former hostage Georges Malbrunot was held with the bodyguard and he stated in an interview that the bodyguard was beheaded.

On 22 April, the "Islamic Army in Iraq" released a video of their members killing a Bulgarian "civilian contractor" who survived after the downing of his helicopter. He was helped to his feet and then shot with 27 rounds of ammunition. [6]

The Army also claims to have shot down a commercial airliner in Iraq, although officials maintain the accident was caused by fog. The crash killed 34 people.