Iraqi Resistance Distances Itself From Civilian Blood

Islam Online | March 8 2005

The Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jama`) has urged all its members to remain committed to the Front's guidelines in fighting the US-led occupation, chiefly avoiding the use of bobby-trapped cars inside the cities, the slaughter of hostages and the killing of any Iraqi.

Sources close the Front revealed to IslamOnline.net that Jama` has issued a statement early March to distance itself from people shown lately on Iraqi satellite and ground TV stations confessing membership in armed groups involved in carrying out attacks against Iraqi police and army troops and in slaying “collaborators” with the occupation.

Many Iraqis suspect that the men shown on TV had confessed to such crimes to avoid torture techniques, according to IOL correspondent.

“The principles of the Islamic Front contradict the confessions of the groups shown on TV. We prohibit targeting civilians, slaying hostages and spilling the blood of Iraqis whether civilians or members of police and national guard forces, under any pretext,” reads the statement, a copy of which was obtained by IOL.

The Front asked all its fighters to “avoided fighting the occupiers inside the cities”, for fear of jeopardizing the lives of civilians.

On Sunday, February 27, Iraqi resistance fighters decided to withdraw from the city of Al-Hadytha, following the US wide-scale crackdown therein, to spare civilian lives.

Jama` also reaffirmed in the statements that it was out of the question, for its members, to target civilian foreigners, such as reporters, drivers and relief workers.

It also pressed for not attacking Iraqi infrastructure facilities, such as oil pipelines, government institutions and public utilities.

Concluding, the Islamic Front called on its members to avoid cooperation, of any kind, with armed groups involved in killing Iraqis or civilians.

Televised Confessions

Jama` statement came after the televised alleged confessions of some Arabs and Iraqis.

According to IOL correspondent, the US-led occupation forces, along with Iraqi national guardsmen, recently rounded up scores of Arabs, accusing them of involvement in attacks against US forces and Iraqi policemen.

In Mosul, Iraqis expressed their deep suspicions after TV stations started airing “confessions” by the detained persons.

“An Arab man, in his confession, said he killed three people. The allegedly killed persons happen to be my nephews, who are currently working for me,” Abu Abdullah, an Iraqi citizen living in Mosul, told IOL.

Jama`

Jama` is an umbrella organization grouping Iraqi Sunni resistance factions in Ninawa and Diyala provinces.

It came into existence on Sunday, May 30, 2004, under a political and military wings called “Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance” and “Saladin Al-Ayyubi Brigades” respectively.

“We promise you our Iraqi brethren that the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (Jama`) will usher in the end of the [US-led] occupiers,” the group had said in the statement issued then.

The political wing’s motto features the Bismillah (In the Name of Allah) written at the peak of an Iraq map with a fist carrying a white flag piercing its middle and the word “Jama`” written alongside, in reference to the closely-knit resistance.

The military wing, however, designed its slogan as two crossed swords with a hamlet beneath symbolizing Muslim leader Saladin Al-Ayyubi.

Three days ahead of Iraq's controversial Jan. 30 election, the Front vowed not to target polling stations or attack innocent Iraqis, saying the real battle is against the occupiers.

Since May, 2004, Jama` has claimed hundreds of anti-US forces operations, especially in Ninawa province in the north of the occupied country.