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Iraq
AQI's dead #2 was a Swedish Citizen
2008-10-17
Hmmmmm...
Al-Qaeda in Iraq's alleged No. 2 leader, who the U.S. military said died this month after a gun battle with American forces in northern Iraq, was a Swedish citizen designated as a terrorist by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Muhammad Moumou, 43, a Moroccan native, was the man U.S. military officials in Baghdad identified Wednesday as Abu Qaswarah.

U.S. officials say Moumou, who was born in the Moroccan city of Fez and obtained Swedish citizenship in 1994, was a close associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.

Moumou was the Sunni insurgent group's top commander in northern Iraq, where violence has continued to rage even as al-Qaeda in Iraq has suffered significant setbacks in Baghdad and other former strongholds.

He appears to be the first European citizen to have held a top role within al-Qaeda in Iraq, a largely Iraqi insurgent group that U.S. intelligence officials say is led by non-Iraqi Arabs. He played a key role in recruiting and deploying foreign fighters in Iraq, the U.S. military said.
Posted by:Free Radical

#8  StrategyPage Oct 9: A man killed during a raid on the 5th was revealed as Abu Qaswarah, the number two al Qaeda leader in Iraq. Qaswarah is a Moroccan who migrated to Sweden in the 1980s and had a Swedish passport. He has a wife and five kids in Sweden, and has long been active in Islamic radical activities. But he never did anything illegal in Sweden, so the police there could only keep an eye on him. But two years ago, the deteriorating (al Qaeda) situation in Iraq prompted Qaswarah to go to the front, where he was useful recruiting and moving terrorist recruits into Iraq. He proved an able terrorist leader, and rose through the ranks, until a U.S. Special Forces operator put a bullet into him. Qaswarah then detonated his suicide vest, killing several nearby women and children.
Posted by: ed   2008-10-17 23:29  

#7  I nearly lost it on that one. Too good!
Posted by: Besoeker   2008-10-17 09:32  

#6  Exclusive Post mortem photo




Posted by: Tyranysaurus Elmererong1948   2008-10-17 09:22  

#5  that would be swedish outsourcing
Posted by: chris   2008-10-17 08:16  

#4  He appears to be the first European citizen to have held a top role within al-Qaeda in Iraq

We've even burdened the poor Iraqi people with American outsourcing.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-10-17 07:08  

#3  I wonder if he was still paid welfare benefits whilst in Iraq?

I bet his wife and 10 kids were!!!
Posted by: Paul   2008-10-17 05:43  

#2  Just shows you the whole sorry mess western national identities have became over the last few decades. He was not a swedish citizen, for crying it out loud, he was a moroccan who lived in Sweden, and was given ID papers by the swedish STATE. He certainly WAS NOT a citizen, and even less a swedish man.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2008-10-17 04:04  

#1  Aah, the infamous abu Bjorn.
Posted by: ed   2008-10-17 00:20  

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