In addition to the purported testimony of Abu Muhammad al-Adnani about Syria’s current president and former al-Qaeda branch leader Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani), a pro-Iranian and ‘resistance axis’ Telegram channel based in Iraq, called Sabereen News, recently leaked a set of Iraqi and Syrian documents regarding al-Sharaa in an attempt to discredit him as a ‘terrorist’ with whom the Iraqi government should not engage.
In my view, such antagonism is completely counter-productive from the perspective of Iraqi interests: the Iraqi government needs a cross-border partner to combat the low-level Islamic State insurgency, and the fact is that al-Sharaa’s group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has a reliable track record in cracking down on the Islamic State. Further, it is clear that al-Sharaa has no intention of allowing Syria to be a staging ground for attacks on Iraq, and bolstering of ties between the two countries would be good for promoting cross-border trade and reviving Iraqi tourism to sites such as the Sayyida Zaynab shrine in Damascus, which has seen few Iraqi pilgrims since the fall of the Assad regime.
In any case, the documents leaked by Sabereen News are interesting and generally align with the recently published testimony attributed to al-Adnani regarding al-Sharaa/Jowlani. The most important insights include:
- Jowlani’s initial detention by the Americans in Mosul in May 2005, with him initially being held in American custody in Bucca before being transferred to Iraqi custody in April 2010 and then released in March 2011. This supports the contention that for most of his time in Iraq, he was indeed in prison.
- Neither the Iraqis nor the Americans knew his real identity: they thought he was a person from Mosul (al-Nuaymi being a common tribal name from the area).
- He had initially gone to Iraq around the time of the American invasion in 2003 but then returned after Baghdad fell in April 2003. He then went back to Iraq.
- During his custody in Iraq, arrest warrants were issued against him by the Assad regime’s security services.
Below are the relevant documents with my translation. Note that for the documents providing tables of names I have only translated the entries on al-Sharaa.
Summary of prison file:
Name of the prisoner in the Iraqi prisons: Amjad Muzaffar Husayn Ali al-Nuaymi.
Mother’s name: Fatima Ali
Current name: Ahmad Husayn Ali al-Sharaa nicknamed Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani. He was also known by the name of Osama al-Abdi al-Wahidi.
Nationality when he was arrested: Iraqi.
Place of residence prior to arrest: Iraq/Mosul- Nabi Yunis area.
Current nationality: Syrian
Current place of residence: Syria/Damascus- People’s Palace
Date and place of arrest in Iraq: 14 May 2005 in Mosul, by American forces, bearing prisoner number 174793.
Birth and educational attainment when he was arrested: Iraq, Mosul 4 January 1980, high school student.
Birth and educational attainment currently: Syria, Deraa 1983. College of Medicine in Damascus University.
Date of arrest: his arrest by the American forces was recorded on date 14 May 2005, and he was placed in Bucca prison, then he was handed to the Iraqi government on 6 April 2010 as a detainee in accordance with the rulings of article 4 of the terrorism law, per the arrest warrant issued by the Supreme Judicial Council/Committee of Detainees’ Affairs.
He was released on 13 March 2011 because he was not wanted by any investigative party, and because of the lack of evidence obtained against him, in accordance with the decision of the judge of the investigative court concerned with detainees’ cases (judge for investigating detainees’ affairs).
Phone contact was made with Judge Muhammad Salman, who is currently judge of the impartiality court and in the leadership of the al-Karkh appeals court, and was previously a member of the Detainees’ Affairs Committee. He made clear that this committee had previously been formed by the previous head of the Supreme Judicial Council in 2009-2010, and was not formed by the Prime Minister’s Office, but rather there was a committee representing all the security forces formed in the Interior Ministry in order to calrify the wanted status of 6000 detainees who were divided between the al-Risafa appeals court and the al-Karkh appeals court, and the matter was determined in 2011. The files were deposited with the general counter-terrorism and counter-organised crime directorate, which is affiliated with the Interior Ministry.
General Command of US forces- Iraq
Baghdad- Iraq
6 April 2010
Memo for general director of the Iraqi reform directorate
Subject: personal proof testimony for a detainee before the court
1. This document can be used as a proof testimony from the U.S. forces in Iraq, that the person detained for security reasons- Amjad Muzaffar Husayn al-Nuaymi, detainee number 174793, and his photo is as appears below, is currently being held by American forces in Iraq. An Iraqi judge has issued a detention order for this detainee, attached to this document, for the Iraqi government has requested the transfer of this detainee to their custody in an Iraqi detention facility so he can be under the Iraqi government’s supervision for the purpose of the ongoing investigations into the crimes mentioned in the arrest warrant issued by the Iraqi court.
2. The detainee whose photo appears below has detention number 174793.
3. For more information to know this detainee, see the following:
Name (four-fold): Amjad Muzaffar Husayn al-Nuaymi.
Detention number: 174793
Mother’s name: Fatima Ali
Date of birth: 4 January 1980
Date of arrest: 14 May 2005
Place of arrest: Mosul
Party that arrested:
Andrew J. Boyson
Colonel- Lawyer in the American army
Lawyer and legal consultant on detainees’ affairs
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Republic of Iraq
Supreme Judicial Council
Detainees’ Affairs Committee
Arrest warrant
To all members of judicial apparatus and members of the police, and all who benefit from having this warrant in front of them: you are permitted and authorised to arrest the accused:
1. Three-fold name and surname: Amjad Muzaffar Husayn
2. Place of residence:
3. Occupation:
4. Type of crime and article of the law: Article 4/1 of the counter-terrorism law no. 13, year 2005.
5. His characteristics:
He is to be brought before me immediately as he is accused in the complaint established against him in police centre:
Judge Kadhim al-Tai
Head of the Detainees’ Affairs Committee
24 February 2010
[Label on top left]: Iraqi reform directorate
Place: Taji prison
New number: 70274
First name: Amjad
Second name: Muzaffar
Third name: Husayn
Fourth name: Ali
Mother’s name: Fatima Ali
Year of birth: 1980
Legal article: 4 terrorism
Detainee’s state: detained/arrest warrant
Party that arrested him: the Americans
Date of arrest: 14 May 2005
Hometown: Mosul
Country/hometown: Iraq
Nationality: Iraqi
Hair colour: Black
Eye colour: Black
Sex: Male
Social status: Single
Number of wives: None
Number of children: None
Religion: Muslim
First language: Arabic
Place of residence: Nabi Yunis
Court: Detainees’ Affairs Committee
Level of education: high school
Occupation: student
The letter of the investigative court concerned with detainees’ affairs in al-Risafa no. 75 came on 2 March 2011 and attached with it is the decision of the judge that stipulates his release and for the investigation against him to be temporarily shut so long as he is not wanted for another case. Delivered by Lieutenant Firas Mujbal on 3 March 2011: inbox number 4774 on 3 March 2011.
Receipt no.
Entry 3
Amjad Muzaffar Husayn 70274
Recipient
Lieutenant Firas Mujbal Nuama
Investigative committee
13 March 2011.
List of names:
3. Amjad Muzaffar Husayn Ali no. 70274
[Military] Intelligence branch
Branch 227
Name: Ahmad
Surname: Sharaa
Father: Husayn
Mother: Wedad
Place of birth: Saudi Arabia 29 June 1982
Domicile number and place: Syria, Qunaytra province, Fiq, Fiq centre, al-Zawiya 156
Occupation: student
Current work place:
Original residence: Syria, Qunaytra province, Fiq, Fiq centre (al-Zawiya), Jabin.
National ID number: 14050060139
Current residence: Syria, Damascus province, Damascus city, al-Mazza, eastern villas behind al-Akram mosque, al-Ribat street, al-Strad economists’ building
Phone number:
2. Damascus phone 6111562
3. Damascus phone 6111562
Spouse’s name:
Educational qualification:
The qualification he has: high school
Desired qualification:
General assessment
Social class:
Environment:
Degree of his connection with it:
Friends:
His influence on others:
Personality:
Positive qualities:
Negative qualities:
Unusual qualities:
Bearing [?] of responsibility:
Financial status:
Reason for financial status:
His ideological position [?]:
Political status
Rulings and detentions
Reports:
Report no.:
Date of report:
Side requesting it:
State of circular:
Content of circular:
Information
He has conservative morals and a good reputation. He went to Iraq during the U.S. invasion in order to wage jihad. Then he returned to this country after Baghdad fell, and as a result of this he saw [missing text] security previously, administrative delayed [?], and currently refraining from the market, and his name was publicised in the police bulletin no. 53143/3/6 on date 2 December 2005- someone [relative of?] the aforementioned saw branch 267 in order to ask about him, the list of the third department on date 24 February 2008, in addition to office 1- deleted from the list of third department on 4 March 2008.
- We received a telegram of branch 235, according to which they requested to track the aforementioned because of his connection to an extremist religious organisation and to be detained and brought in person to them, and to be presented the result of monitoring in the first [text missing] no. 2382/235/2 on date 20 April 2006.
- The bringing of a notification for summons against the aforementioned because of his connection to an extremist religious organisation and for him to be detained and brought to us [text missing] telegram no. 59524/3/1 on date 23 November 2007 294.
- We received a letter from branch 294 affirming that there was an arrest warrant against the aforementioned issued by branch 235 and [text missing] for the interest of the Political Security Branch no. 83572/1/294, on date 15 January 2008, coming with number 2350 on date 15 January 2008.
Syrian Arab Republic
General Command for the Army and Armed Forces
[Military] Intelligence Branch: Branch 235
No. 27137/235/2
Date: 9 September 2016
To branch 294:
[In reference to] your telegram no. 152971/d date 1 September 2016, subject the terrorist nicknamed al-Fatih Abu Muhammad al-Jowlani, leader of the so-called Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham organisation.
Please review and provide us with the content of your telegram referred to above on a CD.
Entrusted brigadier general
Head of branch 235
