Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)

Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)

The Mujahideen Shura Council was an umbrella organization of at least six Sunni Islamist groups taking part in the Iraqi insurgency: Tenzheem Qa'adah al-Jihad (al-Qaeda in Iraq), Jeish al-Taiifa al-Mansoura, Katbiyan Ansar Al-Tawhid wal Sunnah, Saray al-Jihad Group, al-Ghuraba Brigades, and al-Ahwal Brigades.

The formation of the group was first announced on January 15, 2006, in a statement posted to the Jihadist website Hanin Net. The statement was signed by the spokesman for Tenzheem Qa'adah al-Jihad, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi. It was formed to resist efforts by the U.S. and Iraqi authorities to win over Sunni supporters of the insurgency. The stated purpose of the council was "Managing the struggle in the battle of confrontation to ward off the invading kafir (infidels) and their apostate stooges...Uniting the word of the mujahideen and closing their ranks... determining a clear position toward developments and incidents so that people can see things clearly and the truth will not be confused with falsehood." On or before April 25, 2006, a videotape of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was released bearing the organization's logo. The Mujahideen Shura Council is believed by the United States Marine Corps to be the primary political force in the Al Anbar province.

The group was headed by Abdullah Rashid al-Baghdadi (nom de guerre: Abu Omar al-Baghdadi).

In mid-October 2006, a statement was released, stating that the Mujahideen Shura Council had been disbanded, and was replaced by the Islamic State of Iraq.