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Iraqi Resistance Takes Many Shapes, Forms
By MARIAM FAM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 07, 2003
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) -

Dhabla Ahmed saw her 22-year-old son leave home before the sunlight filled the sky and head for dawn prayers in the mosque as he did most days. This time, Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim never returned home. Only his bullet-riddled body did.

At about 6 a.m on Oct. 23, a Thursday, four insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades at a U.S. compound, the American military said. Troops opened fire killing two of their assailants and critically injuring a third. The fourth fled.

The U.S. military didn't give the names of the Iraqis killed in the attack, however it confirmed the incident.

Ibrahim's life and death, as portrayed by relatives, provide an insight into the motivation of some so-called resistance fighters. But Ibrahim didn't take up arms out of economic need or for ousted leader Saddam Hussein. His motive seemed to be religious.

Ibrahim was an engineering student who was married about a year ago. He owned his own house, but chose to bring his wife to live with his parents, six sisters and younger brother on a street dotted with neat houses surrounded by trees. His father and uncles own a trading company with branches outside Iraq.

Members of the affluent family said they always had been religious. But two years ago, Ibrahim became even more interested in Islam. Instead of praying at home, he went to the mosque, his mother said. He began to read more of the Quran and fast on Mondays and Thursdays like many devout Muslims.

The change came when Ibrahim went to university - first in Baghdad, then in Mosul, 250 miles north of the capital. He objected to the relatively liberal climate on campus, his family said.

"I should stick to my religion to avoid the temptations of society," an uncle, Fathi Ibrahim, quoted him as saying.

Another uncle, Khalid Ibrahim, described himself as religious but it was not enough for his nephew.

"Sometimes I would be listening to a song on television and he would say: 'Fear God. Why are you listening to songs?'" Khalid Ibrahim recalled.

Some relatives feared young Ibrahim's interest in religion would get him in trouble with Saddam's regime, always eager to suppress fundamentalist religious movements.

"We felt he was being too religious and we were worried that would lead to problems with the government," Khalid Ibrahim said. "We tried to stop him from extremism for fear that he would take a stance against the government. He never liked Saddam."

But Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim didn't like the Americans either.

When Mosul fell to U.S. forces in April, Ibrahim was among the first in his neighborhood to man checkpoints and protect the streets against looters. As the U.S. forces settled in, Ibrahim's antipathy toward them grew.

"When the Americans came here he went beyond just being a moderate religious man. What happened to the country made him that way," Khalid Ibrahim said.

U.S. officials say Ahmed Ibrahim was not typical of most resistance fighters, who the Americans believe are largely supporters of the former regime.

"What we're seeing up here ... are attacks conducted by mostly elements of what we are defining as former regime loyalists, former Baathist party members," said Lt. Col. D. J. Reyes, a senior intelligence officer with the 101st Airborne Division

Reyes said Baathists sometimes pay the poor and the unemployed to carry out attacks.

"There's some speculation that we could be seeing elements of the Iranian-sponsored Ansar al-Islam in the northern area, providing guidance, training, logistics and a very lose command and control structure," he added.

Asked why he thought Ahmed Ibrahim chose to attack Americans, Reyes replied: "He's an idealist. He's thinking in nationalist terms."

However, Abdel Jawad Mohammed Safo, a Muslim cleric at the al-Shaheed Bashar Qalandar mosque, said he believes many of the resistance fighters are young and deeply religious.

"The former regime in Iraq is like a book that has been closed. It's over. Most acts of (resistance) in the country stem from religious reasons," Safo said. "A Muslim doesn't accept a foreigner and a nonbeliever to rule over him."

Ibrahim's mother said her son was a "hero" for attacking the Americans. "We're proud of him. He raised our heads.... He defended his country and honor."