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Al-Qaida mystery man

Replacement to lead terror group in Iraq is touted on Internet sites, but questions shroud name that’s not on U.S. terrorist-watch lists

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI | Newsday Middle East Correspondent

June 13, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Even in the shadowy world of militant Islam, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's successor is a mystery.

In a statement posted on a Web site yesterday, al-Qaida in Iraq said it had selected a new leader: a man who goes by the pseudonym Abu Hamza al-Muhajer. He is unknown by specialists who track militant movements and does not appear on U.S. lists of wanted militants with bounties on their heads.

Al-Muhajer's selection could mean that other, more senior leaders of the group have been killed or captured in recent days, or it could be part of a disinformation campaign by al-Qaida in Iraq, according to Arab analysts and security officials. Al-Muhajer also could be a new nom de guerre for a leader who had previously operated under a different name.

"It's unusual for a group with such a high profile to publicly choose a leader who is unknown like this," said Mohammad Salah, an expert on Islamic militancy at the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat. "There must be other, hidden factors."

Without al-Zarqawi, analysts speculated that his group could fracture into smaller cells or be destroyed by a struggle over his successor. But the group's new leadership might have decided to remain secret and to put forward a false public face who in reality might be a lower-level operative.

"When these groups are under pressure, they sometimes generate disinformation in an attempt to relieve this pressure," said an Arab security official who monitors militants, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "After al-Zarqawi's death, his group might have decided to operate even further underground than it already did."

The statement naming al-Muhajer could not be independently verified, but it appeared on a Web site where al-Qaida in Iraq had previously posted messages. The announcement gave few details about al-Muhajer, saying only that he is "a beloved brother with jihadist experience and a strong foundation of religious knowledge."

But even on the Internet forums used by militant groups to disseminate their propaganda, debate continued about who would be al-Zarqawi's heir.

Since he was killed in a U.S. air strike on Wednesday, several militant Web sites have been filled with well-wishers and supporters pledging to "honor and obey" the man whom they believed would be the new "emir," or leader, of al-Qaida in Iraq: Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi. He was often cited as al-Zarqawi's "deputy emir" and his likely successor.

U.S. commanders said Wednesday's air strike also killed al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, whom they identified as Sheik Abdul Rahman. It is unclear if he is the same man who was al-Zarqawi's deputy. But the Internet messages suggest that al-Iraqi might still be alive and could take a key leadership role.

"After the appointment of Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi, we must all swear allegiance to him," said one posting on a militant forum Friday. "May God grant us someone even stronger than Sheik Abu Musab."

U.S. military officials insist that a foreigner would likely replace al-Zarqawi, who was Jordanian. But Arab analysts and security officials argue that his successor could be an Iraqi, to mend a schism between the foreign militants who form the backbone of al-Qaida in Iraq and the Iraqi Sunnis who make up other segments of the insurgency.

It is not clear whether al-Muhajer is an Iraqi or a foreign militant. In Arabic, al-Muhajer means "the immigrant," so the alias could suggest that he is a foreigner. But it's a common pseudonym among Islamic militants, and the Arab security official noted that it would not be unusual if an Iraqi fighter had adopted the name. The term refers to the "muhajiroun," a group of early converts to Islam who fled persecution in the city of Mecca.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials yesterday said that al-Zarqawi lived for 52 minutes after U.S. warplanes bombed his hideout - revising earlier statements that he had died shortly after the raid. These revelations have set off a new round of messages on militant Web sites, in which supporters praise al-Zarqawi as an exceptional "martyr" with superhuman strength who survived even after his hideout was hit with two 500-pound bombs.

"Sheik Abu Musab was no ordinary martyr," said one posting. "He could not be killed by his enemies' most powerful bombs ... The hand of God was there to protect him."