In 2007 there were three series of political kidnappings
surrounding Asaib Ahl Al-Haq (AAH), the League of the Righteous, a splinter
group from the Sadr movement. Starting on January
20, a group of a dozen AAH fighters in five SUVs claiming to be commandos
from Baghdad entered the Karbala provincial council compound. After gaining
entry they began shooting and throwing grenades as they made their way to the
command center. When they left they had killed one U.S. soldiers, wounded
three, and kidnapped four more. As they were chased by the Iraqi forces they
ended up ditching their vehicles and escaping. Three of the kidnapped Americans
were found executed, while the fourth was mortally wounded and died soon
afterward. Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was formed
in 2006 by Moqtada al-Sadr, one of his lieutenants Qaiz Khazali, and Iran to
carry out attacks upon the Americans, while denying Sadr’s involvement. This
was their most dramatic act since they were formed and would set in motion a
series of other kidnappings.
First, the leaders of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq were captured and
revealed not only their role in the Karbala operation, but Iran and Lebanese
Hezbollah’s as well. On March
20 the head of AAH Qais Khazali, his brother Laith Khazali, and Hezbollah
operative Ali Mussa Daqduq were captured in Basra by the British and turned
over to the Americans. The Khazali brothers along with information captured
with them showed that they were behind the Karbala raid, which was planned and
assisted by Iran’s Quds Force and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The Iranians for example had collected extensive intelligence on the Karbala
center. Daqduq was the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s Department 2800, which
carried out foreign operations for the group, and was assigned by the Quds
Force as a liaison between it and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq. After the arrests AAH
halted all their operations in Iraq for several weeks as they attempted to deal
with the loss of their leadership. Iran tried to come to its aid with another
kidnapping.
On March 23, Iran stopped a British frigate in the Shatt
al-Arab waterway in Basra claiming that the vessel had crossed into its
territory. The Iranians took 15 British Marines into custody and brought them
to Tehran. It then let it be known that they would release the Brits in return
for Qais Khazali. That failed, so a third round of kidnappings was carried out.
On May
29 around 100 men from Asaib Ahl Al-Haq rolled up to the Finance Ministry
in Baghdad wearing Interior Ministry uniforms and driving the ubiquitous black
SUVs. They entered the building and grabbed British IT technician Peter Moore,
and his four bodyguards, Jason Swindlehurst, Jason Creswell, Alec MacLachlan,
and Alan McMenemy. They were taken to Sadr City, and then to Iran where the
bodyguards were all eventually killed. Like the Karbala raid, the Quds Force
planned the operation, and likely took custody of the five Brits. AAH used
their offices in Qom, Iran to negotiate with the British Foreign Office demanding
the release of Qais and Lais Khaali. That eventually happened in 2009. In March
the U.S. released ten AAH leaders, which set in motion the freeing of Laith
Khazali at the start of June,
and then the bodies of Swindlehurst and Creswell were given to the British at
the end of the month. 300
more AAH members were let go starting in August, and in return MacLachlan’s
body was returned in September. Finally Peter
Moore was let go in December, Qais Khazali in January 2010, while McMenemy’s
body wasn’t turned over until January 2012. Eventually almost all of the AAH
fighters were released by the Americans in what they called a reconciliation
effort as the group claimed it would give up its arms and enter politics. After
Qais was released Asaib Ahl Al-Haq reneged on that first promise, and would
take up attacks on the Americans until its military withdrew in 2011. Today AAH
remains opposed to the U.S. presence in Iraq, and is still one of Iran’s main
proxies in the country.
SOURCES
Alsumaria, “US Forces release 2 Asaib Ahl Al Haq members,”
7/30/09
August, Oliver, “End the torment, says Brown as death of
British hostage is confirmed,” Times of London, 9/4/09
BBC, “Alan McMenemy ‘brutally murdered’ by kidnappers in
Iraq, inquest finds,” 11/28/12
Cochrane, Marisa, “Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Khazali Special
Groups network,” Institute for the Study of War,” 1/13/09
Cockburn, Patrick, “Revealed: why UK hostages were killed,”
Independent, 7/10/09
Colvin, Marie, “Families told release of UK hostages not a
done deal,” Times of London, 3/29/09
Gordon, Michael and Trainor, General Bernard, The Endgame, The Inside Story Of The
Struggle For Iraq, From George W. Bush To Barack Obama, New York, Pantheon,
2012
Harari, Michal, “Status Update: Shi’a Militias in Iraq,”
Institute for the Study of War, 8/16/10
Hendawi, Hamza and Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, “Hezbollah said to
train Shiite militiamen in Iraq,” Associated Press, 7/1/08
Kagan, Kimberly, “Iran’s Proxy War against the United States
and the Iraqi Government,” Institute for the Study of War, 8/20/07
Mahmood, Mona, O’Kane, Maggie, Grandjean, Guy, “Why Iran’s
kidnap squad struck,” Guardian, 12/31/09
Rubin, Alissa and Gordon, Michael, “U.S. Frees Suspect in
Killing of 5 G.I.’s,” New York Times, 6/9/09
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