Nov 24, 2014

Since the rise of the Islamic State (IS) this year and its proclamation of a caliphate, there has been a battle underway in the global jihad movement for leadership and loyalty between Caliph Ibrahim, also known as IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahri. Baghdadi is making important gains while Zawahri is playing a long game.

It was inevitable that once Baghdadi asserted independence of Zawahri by operating in Syria and then proclaiming himself caliph that the two would be in competition for the allegiance of jihadist groups throughout the Islamic world. What is now increasingly clear is that Baghdadi has been taking the offensive in this battle and dispatching important emissaries secretly to coax support and pledges of loyalty from key targeted groups.

Baghdadi's biggest success came on Nov. 10, when the Egyptian group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Defenders of Jerusalem) announced their allegiance to Baghdadi. The group was born in the wake of the Egyptian revolution and has carried out scores of attacks on Egyptian and Israeli targets in the Sinai Peninsula. It also operates in the cities of the Nile River, including Cairo.

Baghdadi reportedly sent Mohammed Haydar Zammar to persuade Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis to join the caliphate. Zammar is a legendary figure in jihadist circles. A native of Aleppo, he moved to Germany in 1982, where he ran a "travel agency" for aspiring terrorists. In 1996, Zammar traveled to Afghanistan to meet Osama bin Laden at bin Laden's request. He traveled several more times to Afghanistan before 9/11. He helped the famous Hamburg cell travel to Afghanistan to see bin Laden. The Hamburg cell included Mohamed Atta, Ziad Samir Jarrah and Marwan al-Shehhi, the 9/11 pilots who led the attacks and Ramzi Binalshibh, a key coordinator of the plot.

Zammar was "rendered" to Syria from Morocco after 9/11 in circumstances that are still unclear. He was sentenced to death by Bashar al-Assad's government and was incarcerated in Aleppo's central prison. As Al-Monitor reported in March, Zammar was exchanged in a prisoner swap for Syrian army officers by the rebels.



According to Der Spiegel's Nov. 18 report, "The Caliphate's Colonies," Zammar joined IS in its stronghold of Raqqa and Baghdadi dispatched him to recruit Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis for the caliphate. Zammar's credentials as a bin Laden protege with ties to the Hamburg cell undoubtedly helped his argument. Getting the jihadist Egyptians, of course, steals a march on Zawahri by taking away his fellow Egyptians at home. Zammar delivered a big prize.