Iraqi Jihad Groups Opposing Al-Qaeda Form New Alliance – "Political Council of Iraqi Resistance"

On October 11, 2007, the Islamist website Al-Hesbah, hosted by NOC4Host Inc. in Tampa, Florida, posted a communiqué by six Iraqi jihad groups announcing the establishment of a body called the "Political Council of Iraqi Resistance." According to the communiqué, the council includes representatives of the Jihad Wal-Islah Front, which incorporates four groups – Al-Jaysh Al-Islami, Jaysh Al-Mujahideen, Jama'at Ansar Al-Sunna, and Jaysh Al-Fatihin – as well as representatives of two other groups, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Front (Jami') and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas-Iraq).

Under the heading "Political Platform," the communiqué sets out the movement's goals, which include the following: to expel the foreign occupiers from Iraq by means of armed resistance; to preserve the unity of Iraq and of its people; to return the "immigrants" [i.e. the Al-Qaeda fighters] to their countries of origin; to reject the legal validity of any regime, constitution, law or agreement that have been or will be formed during the occupation; and to consolidate the identity of Iraq as an Islamic-Arab country. Finally, the message emphasizes that "this political program is not an alternative to jihad, but comes to serve and complement [the jihad activities]. The organizations undertake to continue on the path of jihad and to do all they can, on all levels, to please Allah and to realize the goals of jihad, for the sake of which they were established."