Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

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Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh, was a Jordanian militant and founder of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He became known after masterminding a series of bombings, beheadings, and other attacks during the Iraq War, reportedly turning an insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq into a Shia–Sunni civil war. He was sometimes known by his supporters as the "Sheikh of slaughtering". He formed Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (JTJ) in 1999, and led it until his death in 2006. al-Zarqawi took responsibility, on several audio and video recordings, for numerous acts of violence in Iraq including suicide bombings and hostage executions. Al-Zarqawi opposed the presence of Western military forces in the Islamic world, as well as Western support for Israel. In 2004, he joined al-Qaeda, and pledged allegiance to its leader Osama bin Laden. After this, JTJ became known as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), which al-Zarqawi was named emir of. In 2005, he declared war on Shias...

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