Abu Qaswarah al-Maghribi () (also known as Mohammed Moumou or Abu Sara) (July 30, 1965 – October 5, 2008) was a Moroccan national who was reportedly the No. 2 leader of

Al-Qaeda in Iraq Al-Qaeda in Iraq (; AQI), was a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. It was founded on 17 October 2004, and was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi until its disbandment on 15 October 2006 after he was killed in a targ ...

and the senior leader in Northern Iraq. He died in a building in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

during a shootout with American troops. Born in Fez, Morocco, he was one of the founders of the militant

Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, known by the French acronym GICM (''Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain''), was a Sunni Islamist militant organization that operated in Morocco, North Africa, and Western Europe. The organization's objectiv ...

. Mohammed immigrated to Sweden in the mid-1980s and gained Swedish citizenship in the mid-1990s. In March 2004, Mohammed was arrested in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Denmark, at the request of Moroccan authorities for his alleged role in the

2003 Casablanca bombings The 2003 Casablanca bombings, commonly known as May 16 (, ), were a series of coordinated suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. Twelve suicide bombers loyal to the Salafia Jihadia organization detonated bombs hidden in backpa ...

. He was released by the Danish authorities after a month and sent back to Sweden. While in Sweden, he was the "uncontested leader of an extremist group centered around the Brandbergen Mosque" in the Stockholm suburb of Haninge, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Säpo, the Swedish Security Service, had been keeping an eye on him since the mid-1990s, suspecting him of leading an Islamist network that supported terrorism abroad. He was believed to be recruiting Jihadists to fight in Iraq from his base in Sweden. The Swedes also suspected that he had taken part in terrorist attacks and fought in Afghanistan in the 1990s. In May 2006, he left for Iraq and never returned. In December 2006, he was placed on the EU and UN terrorist lists. According to the U.S. military, Abu Qaswarah was a charismatic figure who became the senior commander in northern Iraq in June 2007 and was second in command of Al-Qaeda in Iraq behind

Abu Ayyub al-Masri Abu Ayyub al-Masri ( ; , ', translation: "Father of Ayyub the Egyptian"; 1967 – 18 April 2010), also known as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir

. Allegedly, he was in charge of smuggling foreign fighters into northern Iraq and killed the fighters who did not want to attack Iraqis or carry out suicide missions. Prior to his death, a large number of Iraqi Christians were killed, and their murders were widely blamed on al-Qaeda. He is also accused of orchestrating the failed attack on the Mosul Civic Center, which if successful would have killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians. According to the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

, Mohammed traveled to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in the mid-1990s to participate in the

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

-run Khalden training camp. According to ''TelQuel'', Mohammed was recruited in 1996 by

Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (; born Ali Mohamed Abdul Aziz al-Fakheri; 1963 – May 10, 2009) was a Libyan national captured in Afghanistan in November 2001 after the fall of the Taliban; he was interrogated by American and Egyptian forces. The inform ...

to serve as a "sleeper agent" in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Mohammed reportedly served, at some time in the past, as "

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (; , "Father of Musab, of Zarqa"; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born Ahmad Fadeel Nazal al-Khalayleh (), was a Jordanian militant jihadist who ran a training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq a ...

's representative in Europe for issues related to

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and

biological weapons Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,200 different kin ...

". He reportedly maintained ties to "al-Zarqawi's inner circle" in Iraq. He was also the editor of the ''Al Ansar'' newsletter connected to the

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from ; ) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War. It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and ar ...

(GIA). The U.S. military said that it tracked Abu Qaswarah to a building in Mosul, which served as a "key command and control location" for Al-Qaeda in Iraq. On 5 October 2008, they entered the building, were fired upon, and during the shootout they killed five people, one of which was Abu Qaswarah. His death was announced ten days later, when positive identification was made on his body. The U.S. military said his death would make it more difficult for Al-Qaeda to network and operate in the region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moumou, Mohamed 1965 births 2008 deaths Moroccan emigrants to Sweden People from Fez, Morocco Swedish al-Qaeda members Members of al-Qaeda in Iraq Moroccan al-Qaeda members