Muhammad Yusuf Uthman Abd al Salam (Abu Abdulaziz al Qatari)

Muhammad Yusuf Uthman Abd al Salam (Arabic: محمد يوسف عثمان عبد السلام) (2014–1956) was the founder of Jund al-Aqsa, a Salafist jihadist group active in the Syrian Civil War. He is also commonly referred to by his nom de guerre Abu Abdulaziz al-Qatari (Arabic: أبو عبد العزيز القطري). He was a Jordanian citizen of Palestinian origin who lived in Qatar.

He was a longtime jihadist and veteran of al-Qaeda. He was allegedly affiliated with a number of terrorist organizations, including the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and ISIS.

Personal life

Al-Qatari was born in the Fadhil district of Baghdad in 1956.^[1][2] His family was believed to be of Palestinian descent.^[3] He reportedly held a Jordanian passport and was known to use fraudulent identification and alternative names to avoid detection.^[4]

He is believed to have had four children.^[5] Two of them, both of whom were Jordanian citizens, are under US and UN sanctions for financially assisting the al-Nusra Front and other al-Qaeda branches.^[3][6][7] His two sons are named Ashraf Muhammad Yusuf Uthman Abd al Salam and Abd al-Malik Muhammad Yusuf Uthman Abd al Salam.^[3]

Terrorist activities

It is thought that al-Qatari left Iraq to join al-Qaeda in Afghanistan where he worked closely with Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abdullah Yusuf Azzam in fighting in the Soviet-Afghan War.^[3] Al-Alam News Network claimed that al-Qatari was a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden and persuaded him to go to Afghanistan to join the war.^[8] From Afghanistan, al-Qatari traveled to Chechnya where he fought against Russian forces.^[4]

During the late 1990s, al-Qatari returned to Baghdad where he was sentenced to life in prison under the rule of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.^[9] Amid the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Abu Abdulaziz reportedly escaped from prison and assisted Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in forming the predecessor to ISIS, al-Qaeda in Iraq.^[3][9] Before al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, the group was known as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad.^[10] This group carried out violent acts targeting diplomats, foreign troops, entertainment centers, and Iraqi Shi'ites after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[1][5][11]

It is reported that al-Qatari entered Syria months after the start of the Syrian Civil War with one of his sons, Abu Turab, who was later killed in Syria.^[9] In Syria, al-Qatari worked with Abu Muhammad al-Julani to found the al-Nusra Front in 2012.^[3] According to reports, al-Qatari and al-Julani were dispatched to Syria by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in order to form terrorist sleeper cells.^[12]

Al-Qatari would later split from the al-Nusra Front to establish Jund al-Aqsa. While Jund al-Aqsa continued to fight alongside the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham against Western-backed groups in Syria, divisions emerged between Jund al-Aqsa and its partners over fighting ISIS.^[3][5] Al-Qatari and Jund al-Aqsa were known for reconciliatory efforts among jihadist groups, and purportedly opposed fighting ISIS.^[3][5] It is believed that al-Qatari may have acted as a mediator between al-Jolani and al-Baghdadi in unsuccessful attempts to reconcile their groups.^[13]

Abu Abdulaziz al Qatari's name was eliminated from the latest terrorist list published by the UAE in September 2023, along with the names of 58 other individuals and 12 organizations. ^[14]

Death

Rumors surfaced of al-Qatari's death in early 2014.^[8][15] Later 2014 reports claimed that al-Qatari's body was found in the Idlib countryside.^[5] According to reports, al-Qatari was killed during clashes with the Syrian Martyrs' Brigade.^[8]

References

1. "من هو أبو عبد العزيز القطري مؤسس جند الأقصى - عنب بلدي". عنب بلدي (in Arabic). 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
2. "العثور على جثمان 'القطري'.. تضع نهاية قصة أخطر جهادي مطلوب أمريكيا". بوابة الحركات الاسلامية. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
3. "Analysis: Jund al Aqsa's deep Gulf roots | FDD's Long War Journal". FDD's Long War Journal. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
4. . Archived from the original on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
5. "بطاقة تعريفية بالشيخ أبو عبد العزيز القطري -أمير جند الاقصى سابقا-و الذي وجدت جثته في جبل الزاوية | Syrian Press Center". syrianpc.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
6. "Treasury Designates Twelve Foreign Terrorist Fighter Facilitators". www.treasury.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
7. "scsanctions.un.org/r/". scsanctions.un.org. Retrieved 2016-12-21.
8. "'Spiritual father' of Syria militants killed in Idlib infighting". en.alalam.ir. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
9. (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "العثور على جثة أمير ومؤسس "جند الأقصى" بسوريا | أخبار | DW.COM | 10.11.2014". DW.COM. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
10. "Al-Zarqawi group vows allegiance to bin Laden". msnbc.com. 2004-10-18. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
11. "al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) | militant group". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
12. "باحث عراقي: كويتيون في صفوف "داعش" | Zawya". www.zawya.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
13. KyleWOrton (2016-08-14). "The Structure of Al-Qaeda". The Syrian Intifada. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
14. حنفي, سالم (2023-09-14). "الإمارات تعلن إزالة شخصيات وكيانات قطرية من قائمة الإرهاب.. تعرف عليها!". وطن | يغرد خارج السرب (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-09-25.
15. "Farsnews". en.farsnews.com. Retrieved 2016-12-20.