Backgrounder: Abu Mamza al-Muhajir, Zarqawi's Mysterious Successor
Council on Foreign Relations
Author: Eben Kaplan, Research Associate
June 13, 2006
Introduction
On June 12, less than a week after a U.S. air strike killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda in Iraq website announced the appointment of the group's new leader, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir. Al-Muhajir is a largely unknown figure; he never appeared on wanted lists published by the U.S. military or Iraqi government, nor was he mentioned in any of al-Zarqawi's propaganda over the last three years. In fact, his appointment has surprised many jihadis, who expected Zarqawi's deputy, Abu Abdelrahman al-Iraqi, to take over.
Who is Abu Hamza al-Muhajir?
No one seems to know for certain. The website announcing al-Muhajir's new post said he is "a good brother, has a history in jihad, and is knowledgeable." On July 13, the Times of London cited "insurgent sources" who described their new leader as an Egyptian national with experience fighting in Afghanistan and against U.S. forces in Fallujah in 2004. Farhana Ali, a terrorism expert at the RAND corporation, says Abu Hamza al-Muhajir may be an alias of Abu Ayub al-Masri, an Egyptian trained in Afghanistan who was identified by the U.S. military as a likely successor to al-Zarqawi.
The nom de guerre al-Muhajir has chosen also offers some clues. As with many terrorists in Iraq, his name begins with Abu, meaning "father of," and is followed by a name that is either his son's or a pseudonym. The second part of the name usually is a clue to the person's place of origin, says Rick Francona, a defense intelligence expert.
Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.
Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.
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