Radwan Nammous (1950 – April 3, 2016;Arabic:رضوان ناموس), better known by hisnom-de-guerreAbu Firas al-Suri (Arabic:أبو فراس السوري,romanized: ʾAbū Firās as-Sūrī), was a Syrian militant and former military officer who was a senior official inAl-Qaeda's Syrian affiliateAl-Nusra Front, serving as the group's spokesman.[1]
Suri was born in 1950 in the Syrian town ofMadaya, nearDamascus. He joined theSyrian military in the 1970s and attained the rank oflieutenant but was discharged due to his Islamist leanings in 1979.[2]
Due to theinfighting between jihadist groups in Syria, Al Qaeda’s senior leaders dispatched al-Suri to Syria, where he participated in failed mediation efforts between al-Nusra Front and ISIL.
Al-Suri's role as a senior figure in the al-Nusra Front was not publicly known until March 2014 when he appeared in a Nusra video speaking against ISIL.[4] In the following months. al-Suri took on an increasingly prominent role within al-Nusra. Al-Suri became a spokesman for events such as the group's hostage taking of UN peacekeepers in 2014.[4] In July 2014, an audio recording of a major rally of fighters in Syria was leaked. In it, al-Suri could be heard introducingAbu Mohammad al-Julani, al-Nusra’s emir, who spoke of establishing an Islamic emirate in Syria. In a video released by al-Nusra on 8 August 2014, al-Suri said al-Nusra would declare an emirate in Syria only after consulting with other factions.[4]
The American Bilal Abdul Kareem interviewed Abu Firas in Syria, in which Abu Firas said that the ultimate aims of his people did not just include Syria, but they were merely fighting in Syria for the time being.[5] Bilal's interview of Abu Firas was shown in an Al-Qaeda video released byAl-Qaeda leaderAyman al-Zawahiri called "Three Sheikhs of Jihad".[6][7][8]
Abu Firas appeared in anal-Nusra video which released more information on him, such as his previousMuslim Brotherhood affiliation and his association with bin Laden andAbdullah Azzam.[9] Abu Firas al-Suri and Abu Sulayman al-Muhajir appeared in "The Heirs of Glory" a video released by theAl-Nusra Front, which vowed to bring back the caliphate, included old audio byOsama bin Laden (such as his 1998 announcement that "So we seek to incite the Islamic Nation so it may rise to liberate its lands and perform Jihad in the path of Allah, and to establish the law of Allah, so the Word of Allah may be supreme"). The video glorified theSeptember 11 attacks and the IslamistsSayyid Qutb andAbdullah Azzam.[10]
Ahrar ash-Sham was criticized by Abu Firas.[11] Ahrar was attacked for listening to Turkey and Qatar asking for a split between al Qaeda and Nusra and Ahrar trying to gain support from the west, Turkey, and Qatar.[12] Abu Firas's criticism was expounded on to Ahrar byAbu Qatada.[13][14] His article was criticized by Abu Abdullah al-Shami.[15]
Ahrar's alleged compliance with non-Muslims was Abu Firas's criticism.[16] Ahrar was compared to a non-virgin girl by Abu Firas.[17] The approval of the Revolutionary covenant of May 2014 was deemed as "nationalism" of Ahrar by Abu Firas.[18] Abu Ammar al Shami rebuked Abu Firas Al Suri over Ahrar criticism.[19] A photo ofAbu Khaled al-Suri, Hassan Abboud ofAhrar ash-Sham, and Abu Firas al-Suri was released.[20][21][22]
In an article published in the 19th edition of theTurkistan Islamic Party's magazine "Islamic Turkistan", Radwan Nammous (Abu Firas al-Suri) denounced the United Nations, secularism, civility and democracy.[23] "Doğu Türkistan Haber Ajansı" published aTurkish language version[24] of an interview between Nusra Magazine El Risale and Abu Firas al-Suri.[25]
Ahrar leaderAbdul Razzaq Al Mahdi tweeted his condolences upon Abu Firas's death.[30] Nusra disseminated a biography of Abu Firas al-Suri[31] after his death by the US airstrike.[32]
^Zelin, Aaron Y. (October 25, 2015)."New issue of the magazine: "al-Risālah #2"".JIHADOLOGY: A clearinghouse for jihādī primary source material, original analysis, and translation service.
Syria
Al-Qaeda
Syrian Army
al-Nusra Front