Al-Zawra Television, an Iraqi satellite channel that transmits from an unknown location on the Cairo-based Nilesat 7.0W and Riyadh-based Badr 26.0E, carries between 2007 and 2044 GMT on 16 February a recorded "message" by Al-Zawra owner Mish'an al-Juburi to Abu-Umar al-Baghdadi, the amir of the Islamic State of Iraq, identified by Al-Zawra as "leader of the Al-Qa'ida Organization in Iraq" regarding the "organization's attacks against leaders and heroes of the Iraqi resistance who refuse to pay allegiance to him, and the detonation of booby-trapped vehicles among Iraqi civilians."

Originally published on 2/16/2007 by Iraq - OSC Report in Arabic

Al-Juburi first explains that "I chose to communicate with Shaykh Abu-Umar and his mujahidin brethren in this manner so that I may convey my thoughts clearly and guarantee that I will be heard," and adds that "I am in no position to judge anyone's patriotism or jihad, but we pride ourselves on being servants of the Iraqi resistance, and we perhaps possess the means of delivering this message or conveying the feelings of a large number of our resisting brothers as well as society."  He vows to be honest, trustworthy, and keen on the unity of the "mujahidin and resistors," and says that his message "is an honest and serious attempt to end the sedition and extinguish a fire I believe is imminent."  

Al-Juburi says: "For the record, I wish to start by clearly stressing that the brothers in the Al-Qa'ida Organization, particularly the Arab mujahidin, were the first to confront the occupation in Iraq.  I salute the memory of their martyrs, who fell while teaching the occupier brutal lessons.  The heroic stances of Al-Qa'ida's mujahidin in Iraq against the American occupation encouraged everyone to enlist in the resistance, and the names and organizations appearing before you on Al-Zawra channel, well, I believe the start was with the brothers in the Al-Qa'ida Organization, and the operations are carried out by people who came to Iraq in pursuit of martyrdom and with honest intentions -- even the Al-Qa'ida suicide bomber who attacked my convoy in Bayji was perhaps led to believe that he would go to heaven if he killed me, but I forgive him and hope God judges him on his intentions."

Al-Juburi maintains that "despite the accomplishments of the brothers in Al-Qa'ida in their confrontation of the occupation, they have broken the back of national unity in Iraq, and have brought massive agony to the people of Iraq."  He goes on to accuse "Israel and its agents" of blowing up civilian targets, and maintains that "the occupation, which wants to destroy Iraq's national unity and divide the country in to sectarian mini-states so that it may dominate the entire region, is perhaps too responsible and is a direct or indirect provocateur."

He holds Al-Qa'ida responsible for most civilian bombings that target "heavily populated areas that the organization believes to be predominantly Shiite," and deems attacks on Shiites as "crimes by all standards." 

He says: "When bombs were detonated in, for example, predominantly Shiite neighborhoods or in crowded markets like those in Al-Kazimiyah, Al-Hillah, Karbala, or Al-Najaf, they provided justifications to the sectarian militias that too serve a foreign agenda.  These sectarian and Safavid militias, which we absolve our Shiite brothers of any relation to -- and by Safavid we mean the Safavid political agenda in Iraq -- saw in each of these suicide bombings an excuse to head into Baghdad's Sunni neighborhoods dressed as policemen and soldiers, and with government support, and kidnap four, five, or 10 times the number of young men an unarmed people.  When Baqir Sulagh Khisrawi was the interior minister, those abductees were taken to the Interior Ministry and executed there." 

Al-Juburi accuses the government of "encouraging" sectarian militias to kill people on a first-name basis, meaning those fro m the opposing sect, by blaming Al-Qa'ida's attacks on Saddamists and Ba'thists instead of demanding action on the part of the countries that Al-Qa'ida's Arab fighters come from.  He stresses that Iraq's Sunnis and "Arab" Shiites "do not condone and are not part of the bloody conflict in Iraq," and explains  that the Shiite-Sunni conflict is between foreign powers, that Al-Qa'ida has a political agenda it wants to advance in Iraq, and that the sectarian militias, namely the Badr Corps, which he calls the "treason militia," and "Muqtada's militia [the Al-Mahdi Army]," were acting on considerations "that have nothing to do with the interests of the Iraqis." 

Al-Juburi proclaims: "We will continue to confront the terrorism that targets Iraqis regardless of its source, even if it is the treason militia, and we will confront the terrorism that targets civilians regardless of its source, even if the Al-Qa'ida Organizations.  We beseech you: The murders and bombings that target Iraqi civilians triggered an assault on national unity and will leave their mark on the future of Iraq.  They have driven a wedge between the components of the Iraqi people, and we are all required to counteract this wedge." 

He adds: "Some of the brothers in the Al-Qa'ida Organization have started killing brave and iconic figures in the resistance, why, because some of those in the Al-Qa'ida Organization, or what is known today as the Islamic State, want us to either pledge allegiance to the Iraqi Islamic state and its amir or to sit back, meaning that no one is allowed to operate under any jihadist resistance banner other than that of Al-Qa'ida."

Addressing "brother Shaykh Abu-Umar," Al-Juburi says: "I am of course no match to you in jurisprudence, but I wonder, how can you force us to pledge allegiance to a man whose real name we do not know? How can you ask us to pledge allegiance to a state whose ministers we do not know?  How can you ask us to pledge allegiance to a state of unknown ministers, governors, leaders, or amirs -- a state with no names or locations?  How can you ask us to pledge allegiance to a state that was announced without our knowledge?  How can we pledge allegiance to the sectarian Iraqi Islamic state and at the same time fight, resist, and confront the regions project, deeming it a division of Iraq and hence rejecting it along with the concept of federalism?"

Al-Juburi maintains that we "reject the wilayat al-faqih [rule of the jurisconsult] the same way we reject the hegemony of sectarian parties in Iraq," and wonders how Iraqis are supposed to confront the "sectarian project" and the southern Shiite region while at the same time pledging allegiance to the Iraqi Islamic state in the Sunni triangle?

He asks Abu-Umar to explain the murders of two Sunni Imams, Umar al-Falahi of Al-Fallujah and Shaykh Muhannad al-Ghurayri of al-Qarmah , who he says were killed along with others simply for refusing to pledge allegiance to the Islamic state or for objecting to its tactics even though they were symbols of the pro-Sunni resistance, and accuses the organization of concealing the bodies of those it kills. 

He explains that no messengers are being sent to Al-Qa'ida because one of its brigades in the Salah al-Din Governorate killed a messenger in the past.      

Al-Juburi tells the tale of a man being ordered by Al-Qa'ida to turn over his son so that he may be killed for murdering an Al-Qa'ida member who, according to Al-Juburi, murdered resistance fighters and terrorized civilians, and asks: "Is this the state you want to establish?  A state where people are killed without charges, investigations, judges, or anything of the sort? Is it religiously permissible for you to seize the weapons and munitions of resistance factions simply because they refuse to pledge allegiance to the Islamic state? Well, you did, and this is not right.  I do not want to pledge allegiance to you, I am a resistor fighting the occupation, but I am not your partner in your sectarian fighting project or your murder of civilians.  I cannot vow to kill soldiers, policemen, civilians, shoppers in Al-Shurjah and Al-Haraj markets - who goes to Al-Haraj market? People looking for second-hand clothes, does it make any sense that we blow up this market?"

He wonders how the Al-Qa'ida Organization can force people to recognize its Islamic state when it is thought to be responsible for the market bombings and sectarian killings, and says that the forced displacement of people in Baghdad was triggered by "actions that you are responsible for." Reflecting on the lack of basic services and food shortages in the "Islamic state's capital in Al-Ramadi," which he says the government has no access to, Al-Juburi maintains that pledging allegiance to such a state would be "suicide," and asks the organization if it believes that its anti-occupation resistance gives it the right to enslave people and force them to become citizens of its state.

On why he was prompted to address this message, Al-Juburi speaks of three police stations that Al-Qa'ida blew up in the past week in Al-Ramadi, Al-Dawrah, and Al-Hawijah - he admits that the Iraqi Government is a "sectarian and illegitimate government involved in sectarian murder," but says that Iraqi policemen joined the police when it was deemed permissible by religious fatwas [rulings] and argues that these policemen seek to uphold the law and "do not act against the resistance."  He further defends the Iraqi police, and, while admitting that some militiamen dress up as policemen and commit crimes, insists that the policemen that were targeted did no such thing. 

He says: "Unfortunately, Baqir Sulagh integrated Iraqi and non-Iraqi militiamen who have certain agendas and place loyalty to the sect before loyalty to the country into the Interior Ministry and issued them police uniforms when they are in fact sectarian gangs that kill people and provoke fierce and violent retaliations on your [Al-Qa'ida's] part.  We can understand many of these actions, but even though we understand the moments of rage during which decisions were taken by both parties, we still condemn them and do not accept them."

He criticizes Al-Qa'ida's use of booby-trapped cars against police stations and its indiscriminate murder of policemen, be they good or bad, and, in defense of Iraqi policemen, says that "I in the Al-Zawra channel have pictures taken in the Al-Taji area of the bombardment of occupation forces that starred a policeman who was martyred."  He goes on to list a number of patriot tribal leaders and notables whose murder at the hands of Al-Qa'ida turned the people and some resistance fighters against the organization, and pleads with the organization to release Shaykh Naji Jibarah for the sake of "burying the sedition between society and Al-Qa'ida" and warns of retaliation in the event of the Shaykh's death. 

Al-Juburi says: "Shaykh Abu-Umar, you might not be aware of the actions of some brigades, and you perhaps do not forgive the murder of a resistor because he refused to stop fighting.  You know as well as we do how many Mujahidin were killed in the past few days." He maintains that "one of the things that prompted me the most to send you this message was your murder of the late Namis Khadir Ali of Al-Hawijah," whom he says was a "resistance hero" who was killed and decapitated by Al-Qa'ida, and whose body was booby-trapped with explosives meant for family members that try to bury him.  He asks: "What court issued this verdict?  What information did you have about him?  We will not allow this.  Today you killed Namis, and if God grants you the strength, then tomorrow you will kill everyone.  Unfortunately, I tell you that this approach will not be accepted."

He expresses his rejection of the Islamic state "in its current form," and says that an Afghanistan-style Islamic state in return for liberation is not acceptable.

He adds: "Why are Al-Qa'ida's operations not aired on Al-Zawra? Because I know that part of Al-Qa'ida's operations target civilians.  How can I glorify - glorify those whose work I broadcast - an organization that kills my Iraqi brother because he is Shiite or non-Muslim, or because it believes him to be a soldier, policeman, or rival?"

Al-Juburi says: "We will not allow Iraq's transformation into a dangerous place that threatens the region's countries, and those brothers who come to you should pursue jihad in their own countries and not in ours if they wish to pursue acts beyond the resistance of the occupation."  He maintains that "the Iraqi resistance is not in need of Arab volunteers," and says: "To our Arab brothers wishing to volunteer, we say this: We will defeat America in Iraq, and we will force it to retreat beyond the ocean.  There is no way America can defeat us.  I assure you that we can defeat the American occupation and cleanse our country of the filth of the devils through the strength of only the Iraqis, and through the confrontation of only the occupation and its agents."

In closing, he pleads with Al-Qa'ida to release all its captives and stop killing policemen, and asks Abu-Umar to stop the bombing of Iraqi civilians and the murder of Iraq's mujahidin, and to win the hearts of the people so they may pledge allegiance to him out of love, not fear, noting that alliances are being forged throughout Iraq against Al-Qa'ida.   

OSC JN Bureau plans no further processing.