Al-Qa'ida in Iraq (AQI)

About

Al-Qa‘ida in Iraq (AQI) was established in 2004 by deceased terrorist Abu Mus‘ab al-Zarqawi, who pledged his group’s allegiance to al-Qa’ida (AQ) leader Usama bin Ladin. In the 1990s, al-Zarqawi organized the terrorist group al-Tawhid wal-Jihad–the predecessor organization to AQI–to oppose the presence of U.S. and Western military forces in the Islamic world and the West’s support for, and the existence of, Israel. Al-Zarqawi traveled to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom — the invasion of Iraq by a U.S.-led coalition of more than 40 nations — and led his group against U.S. and Coalition forces there until his death in June 2006. AQI targeted Coalition and Iraqi forces and civilians to pressure foreigners to leave Iraq, reduce Iraqi popular support for the United States and Iraqi government, and attract recruits. In October 2006, AQI publicly renamed itself the Islamic State in Iraq. The group became the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2013 after it disassociated from AQ.

On December 17, 2004, the U.S. Department of State designated AQI (now known as ISIS) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. Previously, on October 15, 2004, the Department of State designated AQI as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As a result, all of ISIS’s property, and interests in property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with ISIS. It is a crime to knowingly provide, or to attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to ISIS.