Ibn al-Khattab | |
|---|---|
ابن الخطاب | |
 | |
| 1st Emir of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya | |
| In office 2000–2002 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Abu al-Waleed |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 April 1969 Arar, Saudi Arabia |
| Died | 20 March 2002 (aged 32) Chechnya, Russia |
| Nicknames |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Afghan mujahideen Azerbaijan  United Tajik Opposition Bosnian mujahideen Chechen mujahideen |
| Years of service | 1987–2002 |
| Commands |  Islamic International Brigade |
| Battles/wars | |
Samir Saleh Abdullah al-Suwailim (Arabic: سامر صالح عبد الله السويلم; 14 April 1969 – 20 March 2002),[1] commonly known as Ibn al-Khattab or Emir Khattab, was a Saudi Arabian pan-Islamist militant. Though he fought in many conflicts, he is best known for his involvement in the First and Second Chechen War, which he participated in after moving to Chechnya at the invitation of the Akhmadov brothers.[2]
The origins and real identity of Khattab remained a mystery to most until after his death, when his brother gave an interview to the press.[3] His death in 2002 had followed his exposure to a poisoned letter, which had been delivered to him by a personal courier who was secretly recruited by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation.
According to American scholar Muhammad al-Ubaydi who specializes in the study of militant Islam, his continued relevance is due to the fact that he was the internationalist Salafi jihadist fighter par excellence: he was born in Saudi Arabia and had taken part in conflicts in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Tajikistan, and who in addition to his native Arabic was able to communicate in English, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian, and Russian. Compounding this was his charismatic appealing approach towards attracting non-Arab Muslims to fight for his cause and his pioneering use of modern media dissemination techniques to promote jihad, particularly by way of publishing military videos for propaganda purposes.[4]
- ^ Alexievich, Svetlana (24 May 2016). Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets. Random House Publishing. ISBN 9780399588815.
- ^ Muhammad al-`Ubaydi. "Khattab" (PDF). Combating Terrorism Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Khattab, the man who died for the cause of Chechnya". Islam Awareness. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ^ Muhammad al-`Ubaydi (1 March 2015), "Khattab (Jihadi Bios Project)" Archived 31 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 2–3, Combating Terrorism Center. Retrieved 15 May 2020.