Abu Bilal al-Harbi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nasir Muhammad 'Awad al-Ghidan al-Harbi 20 July 1974 Al-Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia |
| Died | 16 October 2017 (aged 42) |
| Other names | Abu Bilal al-Ghaydani, Hammam al-Najdi, Ra'i al-Ras |
Nasir Muhammad 'Awad al-Ghidan al-Harbi (20 July 1974 - 16 October 2017, known by hiskunyaAbu Bilal al-Harbi, was a Saudi Arabian citizen who was the governor of theIslamic State'sbranch inYemen.
He was born inAl-Qassim Region,Saudi Arabia on either 20 July or 5 September 1974.[1]
In September 2014, he established contact with IS and sought pledges of allegiance on their behalf. In late 2014, he allegedly facilitated the movement of people and material for IS operations in Saudi Arabia. According to the Treasury, he "was in Yemen with a group that pledged allegiance to ISIL and received significant funding from either ISIL or an unidentified donor".
According to theUnited States Department of the Treasury, he recruited for theIslamic State in Yemen in mid-2015 having received funding from IS in 2014 to implement their plan in Yemen. He declined to recruit and facilitate efforts in Yemen on behalf ofAl-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in favor of an alleged promise of 4,000al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb fighters byAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.[2]
In December 2015, he suffered a rebellion against his rule as governor by members of theIslamic State in Yemen, who appealed to the Islamic State leadership in Syria and Iraq to replace him. Seventy members announced their defection in a letter published online, though they reaffirmed their allegiance toAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The authors accused him and his "inner circle" of committing "excesses and violations againstsharia." Despite our efforts to advise and inform thecaliph’s office on matters happening in Yemen, the violations against the sharia remain present and continue to increase," the letter continued. "They stopped working in accordance with the prophetic path regarding the resolution of many problems and issues."
The letter further listed three violations of sharia supposedly committed by Abu Bilal; the wrongful "dismissal of a number of soldiers" after they filed a complaint, a failure to provide "basic resources" during a battle inHadhramaut Governorate, and the refusal to submit to a sharia ruling against a regional commander. Additional accusations were made of "oppressing the downtrodden" and "expelling themuhajireen". They then demanded that Baghdadi dismiss the governor for Yemen, along with "his retinue."
Abu Ubaydah Abd al-Hakim, a member of the consultative council of the Islamic State responded, rejecting the request to remove the governor and saying, "What you have ventured to do is absolutely rejected. You must hear and obey he who has been tasked with your emirate, and you tasked by his emiracy over you".[3]
He was sanctioned by theUnited States Department of the Treasury on 29 September 2015.
In 2017, videos lamenting Abu Bilal al-Harbi's death were circulated by theIslamic State – Yemen Province, implying he had died.[4]