x 'Abd Al-Rahim: My name is 'Abd Al-Rahim bin Muhammad bin 'Abdallah Al-Muteiri, from Al-Ahsaa in Saudi Arabia. Interrogator: How did this idea develop? Who did you meet in Saudi Arabia? How did you go to Iraq? Explain to us in detail. 'Abd Al-Rahim: Jihad for the sake of Allah is mentioned in the Koran and the Sunna. No one can deny this. Interrogator: Who did you meet? 'Abd Al-Rahim: During the past ramadan I went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. I was reading the Koran in the mosque, and I noticed a man who seemed good-hearted and righteous. We sat and talked about the state of the nation and about how weak and degraded it has become. He spoke with a Syrian accent. He told me about the Jihad and mujahideen in Iraq, how they are doing, and so on. He praised them and thanked Allah, but said they needed men. I told him I'd like to go to Iraq, and I (asked) if he could help me get there. He said to me: "I know a man in Qamishli called 'Abd Al-'Aziz." The Syrian I met in Mecca was called Salem, and the one in Qamishli was 'Abd Al-'Aziz. Interrogator: Is 'Abd Al-'Aziz also Syrian? 'Abd Al-Rahim: Yes. He gave me his cell-phone number, which I kept, and about a week later I called him. I asked him how he and the guys were doing, and so on. He told me everyone was fine. He said: "If you want to come, everything is ready." Interrogator: This conversation was to Syria? 'Abd Al-Rahim: Yes, I called him from the country (Saudi Arabia). I decided to go. I left Saudi Arabia for Syria on the twelfth month of the hijri calendar, and when I reached Damascus I called Salem on his mobile to tell him I'd arrived. I hadn't thought of coming to Iraq, but I had fatwas (calling for Jihad). Interrogator: Fatwas from senior clerics or from minor ones? 'Abd Al-Rahim: I read the communique of the 26 clerics, and (I heard) some lectures and sermons from "For you, Baghdad," as well as Sheik Al-'Anzi and other doctors who appear on TV, like Dr. Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, who issued a (fatwa) ruling that any American in Iraq must be killed. The Americans are killing and the Iraqis are resisting them – this is the picture that was etched upon my mind. |