Many of us never heard about Abu Ghadiyah before the lawless raid on Boukamal. His name is all over the news now as the media keeps repeating the American claim that he was killed in the raid along with some “bodyguards” of his. Still, few know anything about Abu Ghadiya, except that he’s one of those terrorists who are "hell bent" on destroying America (in Sarah Palin’s language).
In the information age, I thought, everything I needed to know must be a few clicks away. First, I tried to find the guy on Facebook, under “Abu Ghadiyah” then under “Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih”. No matches. Apparently terrorists don’t have presence on Facebook or at least don’t make their profiles public.
Google’s “feeling lucky” button took me to a press release from the US Department of Treasury. In February, Abu Ghadiyah was designated as one of four individuals alledgedly facilitating the flow of weapons, money and terrorists from Syria to Iraq. He was identified as a 31-year-old man born in Mosul, Iraq.
But Iraqis deny he’s from Mosul. Asharq Alawsat quotes an Iraqi tribal leader as saying that “Turki Hishan al-Mazidih might be Syrian or Yemeni but certainly not Iraqi”. The reason, according to the Sheikh, is that “his family name is not known in Iraq” - Good point. Does Al-Mazidih sound more Syrian to you?
BBC seems to agree with the Sheikh. They state the guy is “Syrian by birth”. They even claim that Abu Ghadiyah is actually “from Damascus, where he graduated as a dentist before heading to Afghanistan in the 1990s”. Give me a break! Syrians know that no Damascene would name his son “Badran Turki Hishan”!
Well, to tell the truth, there are many reports on Arabic websites talking about a Syrian Abu Ghadiya. These, however, identify him as “Khalid Suleiman Darwish” (now this sounds more Syrian). Darwish was thought to be a possible successor of Abu Muss’ab Al-Zarqawi and a co-founder of the terrorist group Jund As-Sham. In 2005, he was was accused by Jordan of having masterminded a failed attempt to blow up the American Embassy in Amman. That same year, it was reported that Abu Ghadiyah was killed by US troops during “Operation Dagger” against militants in Anbar province. Al-Qaeda confirmed his death later. Google could not help me find information about Abu Ghadiyah’s second life in Boukamal.
So Badran Turki Hishan or Khalid Suleiman? Damascus, Zabadani, Boukamal or Mosul? Killed in 2005 or 2008 or still alive? I am not expecting the people who shamelessly lied about Iraqi WMDs to provide answers or evidence. I am hoping the media would bother to investigate the truth before simply labeling the men murdered in Boukamal as bodyguards of a mysterious terrorist.
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