Supreme Command of the Jihad and Liberation

Iraqi Resistance announces Founding of Supreme Command for the Jihad and Liberation in Baghdad.

The patriotic Iraqi website albasrah.net reported on Tuesday that 22 Iraqi Resistance fighting groups had convened a Unification Congress in a liberated neighborhood in Baghdad.

The Congress resolved to unite all the Resistance groups that were in attendance at the meeting, which agreed that its aim was the total liberation of the entirety of Iraq, however long that might take. The congress also decided that membership in the unified Resistance front would be open to other armed Resistance groups or fighters wishing to join. The Congress also resolved to create a Supreme Command of the Jihad and Liberation struggle and it elected Iraqi President ‘Izzat Ibrahim ad-Duri the Supreme Commander of the Jihad and Liberation. Also elected at the meeting were a first deputy supreme commander and a deputy for military affairs.

The Supreme Command of the Jihad then convened its own meeting at which a General Staff was created under the command of the Supreme Commander of the Jihad. Lieutenant General ‘Amir Muhammad Amin was named Deputy Supreme Commander for Military affairs. Also created at the meeting were a religious consultation body headed by Shaykh ‘Ali ‘Abdallah al-‘Ubaydi. A national security board was also chosen to be headed by General Khalid Sulayman Khalaf. A board for administrative and financial affairs was created under the command of Lieutenant General Muhammad Salig ‘Alwan and a board for information and mobilization was named under the command of General Salah ad-Din Ahmad. Dr. Kan‘an Amin was named official spokesman for the Jihad and Liberation Command.

The Supreme Command declared that the Jihad and Liberation command upheld “sacred principles” that could not be violated and stated that no party was authorized to enter into negotiations with the American enemy except on the basis of those principles. The Command stated that the jihad would continue and escalate until the American enemy recognized it and fled from Iraq.

The Command stated that for any negotiations to take place, the Americans must:

  1. Officially recognize the patriotic Resistance and all the patriotic, Arab nationalist, and Islamist Resistance organizations in all their armed and civil organizations as the sole legitimate representative of Iraq and its great people.
  2. Officially announce an unconditional withdrawal from Iraq – whether that be immediate or in short stages.
  3. Halt raids, pursuits, killings, destruction, sabotage, dispossessions, and expulsions and withdraw the occupation troops from all population centers.
  4. Free all prisoners and detainees without exception and compensate them for their losses.
  5. Return to service the Iraqi Army and national security forces, which were declared dissolved by the Americans during their invasion in 2003. They are to be restored in keeping with the rules and traditions that were in force before the American invasion and they must also be compensated for their losses.
  6. Pledge to compensate Iraq for all the material and moral losses and injuries caused the country by the occupation.
  7. Cancel all laws, decrees, and other pieces of legislation issued after the occupation.
  8. Hold direct talks with the Resistance on implementing a program to fulfill the principles adhered to by the Supreme Command if the Americans want to have save face. Otherwise the Americans will simply have to leave in defeat.

In addition the Command said that meetings must be held on the re-establishment of a government, adding that one-man rule was being done away with and replaced with system based on Islamic democratic principles as distinct from the imperialist democracy that is notorious for its practice of self-serving double standards.

The Resistance organizations taking part in the founding congress of the Jihad and Liberation organization are:

  1. The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandiyah Order.
  2. The Army of the Prophet’s Companions.
  3. The Army of the Murabiteen.
  4. The Army of al-Hamzah.
  5. The Army of the Message.
  6. The Army of Ibn al-Walid.
  7. The United Command of the Mujahideen (Iraq).
  8. The Liberation Brigades.
  9. The Army of al-Mustafa.
  10. The Army of the Liberation of Iraq.
  11. Squadrons of the Martyrs.
  12. The Army of the Sabireen.
  13. The Brigades of the Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers.
  14. The army of the Knight for the Liberation of the [Kurdish] Self-Rule Area.
  15. Squadrons of the Jihad in al-Basrah.
  16. Jihadist Squadrons of al-Fallujah.
  17. The Patriotic Popular Front for the Liberation of Iraq.
  18. The Squatrons of the Husayni Revolution of at-Taff.
  19. Squadrons of the Liberation of the South.
  20. Army of Haneen
  21. Squadrons of Diyala for Jihad and Liberation.
  22. The Squadrons of Glory for the Liberation of Iraq.
Translated by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.
3 October 2007