Report: Four Sunni Jihad Groups Plan to Unite Under Sheikh Abdullah Al-Janabi
On January 29, 2007, Islamist websites cited a January 18, 2007 report by the Iraqi Al-Malaf news agency (http://www.almalafpress.com ), which stated that Sheikh Abdullah Al-Janabi - the former head of the Shura Council of the Mujahideen in Fallujah and one of the U.S.'s and the Iraqi government's most wanted- is planning to return to the jihad front. According to the report, Al-Janabi plans to head a new Iraqi jihad group called "Jaysh Al-Muslimin" (The Muslim Army) which will incorporate four organizations that have decided to unite: Kata'ib Thawrat Al-'Ishrin, Liwa Al-Islam, Jaysh Al-Mujahideen, and Jaysh Al-Rashidin. The message also mentions that five other jihad groups, whose names are not given, have recently united.
Friends of Somalia Brigade Denies Receiving Funds from Al-Qaeda
On January 29, 2007, Islamist websites posted a communiqué by the Islamist media group "Friends of Somalia Brigade," signed by the group's secretary-general Abu 'Aksha Al-Somali. The communiqué denies rumors "which were spread in the Somali media and on several American websites" that the group is funded by Al-Qaeda. The organization, states the communiqué, was established at the request of "a group of brothers from the Media Front for the Support of the Somali Resistance," and is funded by contributions from Muslims and donors worldwide. The message further states that the Friends of Somalia Brigade does not serve any particular group, but rather serves "all those who aim their weapons at the enemies of the faith," and that its members are 25 reporters in various parts of Somalia whose job is to convey "confirmed information."
Al-Baghdadi Claims to Be the "[Real] Authority in Iraq"
On January 28, 2006, Islamist websites posted a letter from "The Office of Emir Al-Muaminin [i.e. Commander of the Believers] Abu Omar Al-Husseini Al-Baghdadi" to UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. From the letter, dated January 27, 2007, it can be understood that Al-Baghdadi's people managed to intercept a letter sent by Al-Nahyan's office to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki on January 11, 2007, in which the UAE Interior Minister announces his intention to send a delegation to Iraq in early February. Al-Baghdadi's letter to Al-Nahyan states: "Al-Maliki has authority over nothing, and the proof of this is that your letter to him [did not reach him, but instead] reached the [real] authority [in Iraq, i.e. Al-Baghdadi himself]... If you still want something, you can write to the office of the Commander of the Believers."
