Reporters are starting to examine first-hand the aftermath of Ansar al Islam's rule.

At least 700 Ansar militants had established Taliban-like restrictions on about 30 villages here, forcing the local residents to practice a narrow interpretation of Islam that was alien to the moderate Muslim traditions practiced among most Kurds. "They are al Qaeda," said Commander Ghafur Darwish, sunning himself on a roof after his pesh merga soldiers retook control of Biyara. "Ansar was using Islam as a cover. They are terrorists."
...
Among the ruins of the mosque, scattered among torn pages of the Qur'an and broken turquoise tiles, were more sinister items—two rocket propelled grenade launchers, green plastic canisters of gunpowder, detonators, and paraphernalia for underground operations: forged identity cards and spare license plates. In one training manual for the "Islamic Military/Iraqi Military," hand-drawn illustrations of TNT explosives are followed on the next page with guidelines for proper prayer.
...

Tariq Said Sadiq, 25, a pesh merga soldier, walked through the ruins of Ansar's mosque headquarters in disgust. "I graduated from an institute of Islamic law. These people were not Islamic, they were against Islamic principles. Islam is for peace, for health, for faith, not for killing."

The article has a lot of data on evidence for a direct link with al Qaeda too. (via Andrew Sullivan )

Posted By Alan E Brain at April 4, 2003 02:33 AM | TrackBack