Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – On April 19 Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that tow leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq were killed in a joint effort between Iraqi and United States forces. The Iraqi Prime Minister announced on Iraqi television that Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who led the organization, were both dead. The following day, the Iraqi government announced that another al Qaeda in Iraq leader, Ahmed al-Obeidi, was killed in the northern prvoince of Nineveh.

The deaths of Masri and Baghdadi were confirmed by pictures of both men before and after their deaths. Prime Minister Maliki explained that, “the attack was carried out by ground forces which surrounded the house, and also through the use of missiles.” The Prime Minister explained that a house in Thar-Thar was destroyed and two bodies were found inside. The bodies were found in a hole in which the two men were hiding. “Security forces surrounded the hole, and when they got them out they were dead,” said Maliki.

General Ray Odierno, the top American military commander in Iraq, explained the significance of the operation. Odierno explained that, “the death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. The US military explained that Masri had replaced Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and was “directly responsible for high profile bombings and attacks against the people of Iraq.”

On April 20 Iraqi military spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi announced that Ahmed al-Obeidi was killed in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh. General Moussawi said that Obeidi, also known as Abu Suhaib, was in charge of al Qaeda in Iraq’s operations in the northern provinces of Kirkuk, Salahuddin and Nineveh. General Odierno explained that Obeidi was the “the military emir” of the northern region of Iraq.

The BBC’s Jim Muir confirmed that the Iraqi government is now convinced that al Qaeda in Iraq is on the run. However, in the past when leaders were killed, the organization ensures that other men step in to fill their post. Muir explains that this ensures that decapitation of the organization does not lead to paralysis.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Third Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leader Killed: Iraqi Military – 20 April 2010

Al Jazeera – Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leaders “Killed” – 19 April 2010

BBC – Senior Iraqi Al-Qaeda Leaders ‘Killed’ – 19 April 2010

New York Times – Top Qaeda Leaders in Iraq Reported Killed in Raid – 19 April 2010

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza – Hamas has announced that it will continue to execute those it believes are collaborating with Israel. Hamas, the Islamist party that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, restarted such executions on April 15, executing Nasser Abu Freih and Mohammed Ismail by firing squad. Hamas had not officially executed accused collaborators in five years.

“We will continue to implement the death penalty for all those who were so sentenced,” said Fathi Hamad, Hamas interior minister. “Anyone who finds himself in this treacherous condition is an agent and a spy. He is providing information without regard to who he really is, and should be brought to justice…If there is a death sentence we will implement it immediately in order to preserve our people and its project of jihad and liberation.”

The executions and Hamas government statements caused an outcry among international human rights groups. B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group accused Hamas of not adhering to “even minimal standards of due process” in its trials of alleged collaborators. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights also condemned the executions, saying that any executions conducted without the approval of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are unconstitutional. Further, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she was alarmed by Hamas’s plan to continue such executions, and was “disappointed” that Hamas has returned to the death penalty, despite the international community’s rejection of the practice.

Local analysts believe that Hamas is not solely motivated in cracking down on alleged collaborators, but rather in reversing internal criticism that it is being soft on Israel. Since Hamas agreed to a ceasefire with Israel after the fighting between Israel and Hamas during the winter of 2008-2009, the party has tried to reassert its internal legitimacy among competing militant factions.

“[T]his recent decisions was…related to internal pressure, where the extreme elements both in Hamas and from other factions are saying: ‘Why are we just holding these collaborators in jail? We want action,’” according to Issam Younis, director of the Gaza-based al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Hamas Vows to Keep Executing “Collaborators” in Gaza – 19 April 2010

Ha’aretz – Hamas: We’ll Continue Carrying Out Executions in Gaza – 19 April 2010

The National – Executions by Hamas Condemned as Murder – 18 April 2010

Jurist – UN Rights Chief Denounces Hamas Executions – 16 April 2010

BBC News – “Palestinian Collaborators” Executed by Hamas – 15 April 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to cease hostilities, ending six days of violence in Iraq.  Sadr directed his Mahdi Army to cooperate with the Iraqi government’s efforts to maintain security, but did not tell them to give up their weapons.  In exchange for an end to the violence, Sadr demanded that his followers be released and given amnesty.  Sadr also used the statement as a rallying cry against the US forces in Iraq, calling them the “armies of darkness.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki targeted Sadr’s followers in an offensive launched last week aimed at improving security in the country.  The Maliki government hoped to weaken Sadr’s influence, both politically and militarily, but the plan appears to have backfired.  The offensive has been widely seen as a failure.  It is now Maliki, not Sadr, who appears to be politically and militarily weak.

The cease-fire itself shows Sadr’s strength.  Before he launched the offensive, Maliki claimed that there would be no negotiations.  After Sadr offered the ceasefire, a Maliki spokesman described Sadr’s statement as a “positive step.”  Instead of weakening Sadr’s influence, the recent violence has allowed him to solidify his base, both politically and militarily.

For more information, please see:

Time – How Moqtada al-Sadr Won in Basra – 1 April 2008

Reuters – Baghdad Green Zone Hit by Mortars – 31 March 2008

Washington Post – Sadr Tells His Militia To Cease Hostilities – 31 March 2008

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SYDNEY, Australia – Alleged Al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been described as America’s number one terrorist threat, is reported to have been engaged by a Sydney youth group to address hundreds of young people in one of Australia’s largest mosques from Yemen last year.

According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been charged with masterminding the killing 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas, was approached by the Sydney Muslim Youth group, to deliver a sermon to young Australians.

The New South Wales (NSW) counter-terrorism squad knew about an al-Qaeda-linked sermon delivered at a Sydney mosque but did nothing because it did not believe that the radical imam who gave it was a threat.

The unit has no transcript of the sermon, delivered by an al-Qaeda recruiter described as the No.1 terrorist threat to America, but says the speaker, Anwar al-Awlaki, has now become a ”significant threat” to Australia.

According to US authorities, about the time of the sermon Mr Awlaki was transforming himself from radical cleric to trainer and recruiter for al-Qaeda.

Last week, Mr Awlaki became the first US citizen added to the CIA kill list. He is considered a military enemy of the US and faces assassination by special forces.

“The danger Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,” a US official told The New York Times. “He’s gotten involved in plots.” The chairwoman of the US house subcommittee on homeland security, Jane Harman, called Mr Awlaki “terrorist No. 1 in terms of threat against us”.

The bomber who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day last year reportedly described him as his trainer and recruiter.

And Awlaki was said to be advising the extremist who was later charged with killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in Texas in November last year.

For more information, please see;

The Sydney Morning Herald – Police Did Not Act On Terrorist Sermon – 16 April 2010

One India – Al-Qaeda Recruiter Addressed Sydney Mosque Youngsters From Yemen In 2009 – 15 April 2010

Herald Sun – Anwar Al Awlaki Considered The Number One Terrorist Threat To The US, Delivered Sermon At Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque – 15 April 2010

The Sydney Morning Herald – Al-Qaeda At City Mosque – 15 April 2010