person:abu abdullah

Bodyguard of Syrian rebel who defected to Isil reveals secrets of the jihadist leadership
▻http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/islamic-state/11221995/Bodyguard-of-Syrian-rebel-who-defected-to-Isil-reveals-secrets-of-the-j

But much of the fighting is led by warriors from a variety of backgrounds, including Saddam Hussein’s dismantled army. Some have an even shadier past.
Saddam Jamal was originally a drug dealer, Abu Abdullah, told The Telegraph. Then, when the war began, he made money from its financiers, eventually becoming a top commander in the Western-backed Free Syrian Army.
After his defection to Isil, Abu Abdullah said, he followed the example of other Isil “emirs” or leaders, who reigned over his territory with violence, extortion and hypocrisy.
“They kidnap and carry out assassinations,” he said. “They think nothing of bringing down a whole building with women and children inside, just to kill one person.
“A lot of their local and foreign fighters smoke but if they ever catch a civilian doing the same they lock him up, whip him and forced into community service. Why the double standards?”
The war in opposition-held Syria is characterised by shifting alliances, with rebels joining and defecting from Islamist and secular armed groups according to which has the better financial backing.
In this respect Isil was little different, Abu Abdullah said.

How to Start a Battalion (in Five Easy Lessons)
▻http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/ghaith-abdul-ahad/how-to-start-a-battalion-in-five-easy-lessons

Alors que les « djihadistes » étrangers reçoivent fonds et armes des pays du Golfe, les rebelles syriens, désunis, en sont sevrés.

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After giving up on the Turks and their Armament Room, Abu Abdullah and his friends turned to the Libyans. Libya is both a fervent revolutionary power and a huge weapons market. ‘In Iraq we buy a certain number of bullets but in Libya they sell them by the weight, by the ton, and it’s dirt cheap. But we can’t ship them by sea. Thirteen countries control the waters in the Mediterranean and we need permission from all of them or from the Americans. So the Qataris fly the weapons to Doha and then they ship them down from Turkey.’

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(...) foreign jihadis [are] the only people, as Abu Abdullah complained, (...) getting money and equipment these days. Hakim al-Mutairi, a Kuwaiti Salafi preacher, was sending them millions of dollars. ‘I confronted him at a meeting a few weeks ago,’ Abu Abdullah said. ‘I told him you are hijacking our revolution. The jihadis are buying weapons and ammunition from the other units. They have no problem with money.’

At the end of January, I met a friend of Abu Abdullah; he’d once been a wealthy man, a merchant, but he’d seen his wealth dwindle as all his businesses came to a halt. His lips were quivering with anger and he kept thumping the table with his fist.

‘Why are the Americans doing this to us? They told us they wouldn’t send us weapons until we united. So we united in Doha. Now what’s their excuse? They say it’s because of the jihadis but it’s the jihadis who are gaining ground. Abu Abdullah is $400,000 in debt and no one is sending him money anymore. It’s all going to the jihadis. They have just bought a former military camp from a battalion that was fighting the government. They went to them, gave them I don’t know how many millions and bought the camp. Maybe we should all become jihadis. Maybe then we’ll get money and support.’