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Following are excerpts from an interview with the spokesman of the "Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas Army," Sheik Salah Al-Din Al-Jabouri, which aired on Al-Rai TV on September 21, 2008.
Sheik Salah Al-Din Al-Jabouri: The Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas army is one of the Islamic Jihadi factions in Iraq. It began to operate when the occupation began, and Allah gave the army success when it first started operating as squads in the areas where we are now situated – in Mahmudiya, Al-Latifiya, Al-Yusufiya, Al-Haswa, and south of Baghdad. At the time of its inception, with Allah's grace... We were in places that served as installations of the [Iraqi] military industry, and thus, we managed to obtain large quantities of weapons in these areas, and since the very beginning of the occupation, we managed to prepare the necessary equipment to confront it. The first squads consisted of mosque-goers, of farmers, of people of faith from among the officers of the previous Iraqi army, who wanted to defend their country and make their religion prevail.
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Now that operations have declined, we have drawn up new plans. There are new plans for operations, and in the coming days, you will witness a return to operations like we had in the beginning, Allah willing.
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We are against the occupation. We want to drive the American occupation out of Iraq. When the Americans came, they were part of what was called the "international coalition forces." They brought people of many nationalities with them. Now they use local people who support them, in order to prolong their occupation – whether these are called "Awakening Councils" or anything else. We are against any plan that benefits the Americans. As for our relations with the Awakening Councils – we consider them to be in the ranks of the Americans, and the Americans are our enemies, and we are fighting them. But we do not see any benefit in fighting all the Awakening Councils.
Interviewer: So you are not fighting them?
Al-Jabouri: That is correct. We see no benefit in fighting them – not because we justify them. Not at all. We consider them to be standing alongside the occupation, and they might even be contributing to prolonging the occupation. Therefore, we consider them to be in the occupation's trench. But with regard to our cooperation with them, this will be determined on the basis of interests and according to the Shari'a.
Interviewer: Has any Awakening Councils member come to you to repent and ask for forgiveness?
Al-Jabouri: Yes. Lately, during Ramadhan, several groups have contacted us, and some of them have said: "We have good weapons and ammunition, which are at your disposal." To be honest, we were expecting this.
Interviewer: Did you welcome this?
Al-Jabouri: Well we... yes. We accept whoever renounces his errors, and returns to the right path. We happily welcome him and cooperate with him.
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Let me tell you with all honesty, we have studied history. Allah created this nation in order to lead the world, and indeed, it led the world and ruled it by the Shari'a of Allah. It ruled the world from China to southern France – to Paris.
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The Muslims ruled society throughout the world, and history had only good things to say about them. We have had this experience of justice, equality, goodness, and security. This was the experience of the Muslims' rule of the world, because Allah created them for this purpose. We will not renounce this experience and say: Let's try new laws and things that might or might not be successful. We know that when Allah sent down the Shari'a, it was so people would rule by it, and because it embodies good, justice, equality, and the rights of others, of minorities, and of the other religions. All this is safeguarded in the Shari'a of Allah.
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Has any Muslim ever asked the French or the Americans: Why do you legislate such a law? Now they say to us: Why do you want to legislate such a law, conveyed by Allah? This is the problem now – they interfere in your affairs, your writings, your ideology, and your mentality.
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Interviewer: How do you view the role of Al-Rai TV in the service of the Iraqi resistance? Are you satisfied with it, or do you miss the days of Al-Zawraa TV?
Al-Jabouri: Let me tell you, we consider Al-Rai TV to be a continuation of Al-Zawraa TV, a continuation of its mission of fine media, adopting the discourse of Jihad and the resistance in Iraq. I say frankly that Al-Rai TV tells you to say what you think, without hesitating, and shows you things as they are. This is a good thing. This is part of the just, faithful mission of the media. I ask Allah – and this is just my personal opinion – for Al-Rai TV to have the same format as Al-Zawraa TV. I am aware of what happened to Al-Zawraa...
Interviewer: But if we become like Al-ZawraaTV, we will be shut down.
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