CONFIDENTIAL / CONFIDENTIEL

Intelligence Assessment Evaluation de renseignements

06171

2006 11 06

Integrated Threat Assessment Centre (ITAC)

Centre intgr dvaluation des menaces (CIEM)

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THE OATH OF THE PACT OF TIlE SCENTED ONES AND DECLARATION OF AN ISLAMIC STATE IN IRAQ

Key Points

On 2006 10 12, the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in Iraq released a video showing members taking an oath known as the Pact of the Scented Ones, pledging to expel occupiers from Iraq and support the oppressed worshippers of Allah. A few days later, on 2006 10 15, the MSC proclaimed the creation of an Islamic state in Iraq, that would largely cover the Sunni-dominated regions of Iraq and would operate according to sharia (Islamic law).

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Intelligence Assessment Evaluation de renseignements 06/71

CONFIDENTIAL / CONFIDENTIEL ITAC / CIEM

The statements, aimed at the Sunni population, are intended to rally the people behind the creation of a Sunni state and present a clear alternative to a federal Iraq.

The Statements

1) On 2006 10 12, the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in Iraq, an AI-Qaeda-linked umbrella orgamzatlon that coordinates a half-dozen Sunm Islamist groups in Iraq produced a 5-minute video announcing the establishment Of a Pact of the Scented Ones lKhalfal-Mutayibeen).

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Khalf al-Mutayibeen was the re-enactment of an oath dating from prc-Islamic times when tribes of the Quraysh clan swore to protect the oppressed and the wronged. This symbolic act was later adopted by the Prophet Muhammad.

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Intelligence Assessment Evaluation de renseignements

06/71

CONFIDENTIAL / CONFIDENTIEL ITAC / CIEM

2) The video shows six people, draped in white with their faces covered, kneeling around a bowl of perfume. One of the participants reads the oath, at the end of which all the participants dip their hands in the perfume in order to seal the pact. According to the statement, the Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq, the Conquering Army (Jeish al-Fatiheen), the Soldiers of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (Jund al-Sahaba, the Brigades of al-Tawhid wal Sunnah, many of the noble tribal Sheiks, and others who will announce themselves later united to form the Pact, in order to expel occupiers from Iraq and support the oppressed worshippers of Allah.

3) On 2006 10 15, the MSC released a video (8:32 in length) declaring that the Pact had proclaimed the creation of an Islamic state in Iraq that would cover the governorates of Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Salah al-Din, Ninawa, and parts of the governorates of Babel and Wasit, as well as the city of Kirkuk. This covers all the governorates with a Sunni majority population and a handful of regions embedded in govemorates where Shiites or Kurds are the majority According to the MSC, their declaration comes in reaction to the Kurds and Shiites getting the better share of Iraq and the Sunnis becoming stateless orphans. The Pact proclaimed the imposition of sharia. It also appealed to tribal heads and the Sunnis of Iraq to pledge alliance to the Ernir of the Believers, the righteous sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and to provide money, men and prayers.

4) The two statements are the most recent in a series of communications made by the MSC during the period of Ramadan, laying the foundations of their approach to the post-Zarqawi era in Iraq.

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