Abu Hafs al-Urduni

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Abu Hafs Al-Urduni (Arabic: ابو حفص الاردني) 3^d Amir of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya
Born	1973 Jordan
Died	November 26, 2006 Khasav-Yurt, Dagestan
Predecessor	Abu al-Walid
Successor	Muhannad

Abu Hafs al-Urduni (ابو حفص الاردني) (born Jordan, 1973, died November 26, 2006), also transliterated as Abu Hafs al-Urdani was a Mujahid Emir (commander) fighting in Chechnya. After Abu al-Walid’s death in April 2004, he assumed command of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya. He was killed in Dagestan on November 26, 2006.

1 Biography
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Abu Hafs in the forests of the north caucasus

[edit] Early life

Most of whatever little is known about al-Urduni, is known through the Russian media. It is however fairly certain that his given name is Farid Yusef Umeira, that he was born in Jordan and that he participated in the Afghan-Soviet war and the Tajik Civil war along with Khattab and al-Walid. With the latter two he came to Chechnya in 1995 where he would remain until his death. He would also marry two Chechen women.^[1]

[edit] Chechen Wars

In the First and Second Chechen War he fought in the battalion of Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya under Khattab and, after Khattab’s death, as al-Walid’s deputy. After al-Walid’s death in 2004, al-Urduni succeeded him as Amir of the battalion and issued a video statement about al-Walid’s death, much the same way as al-Walid had done with his own predecessor, Khattab. As commander of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya, al-Urduni faced increasingly harsh conditions for himself and his unit of foreign fighters. Apart from the loss of their most prominent commanders and the relentless hunt for separatists by the Russian Federal Forces, funding for the battalion had also become a major problem due to anti-terrorism measures restricting financial transactions.^[1]

[edit] Alleged Links to al-Qaeda

The name of Abu Hafs al-Urduni is often mentioned in connection with al-Qaeda. Russian intelligence sources and media have repeatedly accused him of being al-Qaeda’s representative in the Caucasus, although they more often accuse rebel leaders of the same links, who themselves deny involvement.^[2] His name is also found in a presentation of Colin Powell, then U.S. Secretary of State at the Security Council in February 2003, where al-Urduni is stated to be part of an international network headed by Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi.^[3]^[4] In an interview with KazkazCenter Al-Urduni once expressed his sympathy with al-Qaeda and Osama bin-Laden, although he did not admit to being part of the organization.^[5] On a different occasion he condemned the Beslan incident and denied personal involvement.^[1] Whether or not he was an agent of al-Qaeda or if there are, or have been, any formal ties between the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya and al-Qaeda remains unclear.

[edit] Death

November 26, 2006, Abu Hafs al-Urduni was killed in a gunfight with Russian special forces in Khasav-Yurt, Dagestan. Russian sources claim the fire fight lasted for four hours, and that four other rebels were killed in the encounter.^[6] KavkazCenter later confirmed al-Urduni’s death, but claims only two other rebels were killed in the fighting.^[7] December 9, 2006, Qoqaz News, the Chechen Mujahideen online news agency, reported that Muhannad had succeeded al-Urduni as commander of the Arab Mujahideen in Chechnya.^[8]