Overview

“Abu Bakr Al-Iraqi” is an ISIS propagandist on Twitter. He posts updates on ISIS activities and links to YouTube clips highlighting ISIS advances.Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 10, 2015, 10:08 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619508459873116160.

On March 22, 2016, al-Iraqi posted praise on Twitter and Telegram for the attacks in Brussels’s airport and subway that killed at least 34 people that day. He also posted quotations from the late Muslim Brotherhood ideologue and Islamist inspiration Sayyid Qutb to his Tumblr account.Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Tumblr post, March 22, 2016, http://abu-bakr-alansari.tumblr.com/post/141482915601/and-fight-against-the-disbelievers-collectively.

Whether al-Iraqi continues to reside in Brussels or if he was connected to the attacks beyond merely providing praise is unknown. On the day of the attacks, another Twitter propagandist, EPIC, posted a tweet asking for prayers for Milk Sheikh and referencing a tweet that has since been removed.EPIC, Twitter, March 22, 2016, 6:27 a.m., https://twitter.com/EPlC24/status/712224203714342913.

Al-Iraqi also frequently posted about the sanctity of marriage, and lamented high divorce rates. He calls divorce “the most hated halal [permissible] action in the sight of Allah.”Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 10, 2015, 7:52 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619474267818700800. Among the other ISIS propagandists al-Iraqi retweets, he has reposted several tweets from Abu al-Qacem Sfaxian, a Twitter user who claims to be in Tunisia and on his 44th account.Abu al-QacemSfaxian, Twitter, accessed July 14, 2015, https://twitter.com/Qacem_Tbarqa_44. The retweets include links to and analysis of Dabiq, ISIS’s English-language magazine.

On July 11, 2015, he tweeted “blood will follow and revenge is compulsory” against all who make war against ISIS.Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 9, 2015, 10:51 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619881687107915776. A day after the July 10, 2015, bombing outside the Italian embassy in Cairo that killed at least one person,“Bomb outside Italian embassy in Cairo leaves at least one dead,” Guardian (London), July 11, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/11/huge-car-bomb-outside-italian-embassy-in-cairo. al-Iraqi called the explosion “a blessed operation.”Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 11, 2015, 12:16 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619903197356912640. Al-Iraqi also believes the growing oppression of Egyptian President Abdel Fata el-Sisi provides ISIS with “fertile ground” to “expand and win hearts & minds.”Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 11, 2015, 12:46 p.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619903197356912640. Al-Iraqi tweeted that Turkey’s decision to join the fight against ISIS will result in the destruction of its economy and elimination of its leaders.Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 9, 2015, 10:52 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619882022308327424. ISIS will “drain Turkey’s economy,” according to a July 11 tweet blaming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for leading his country to “economic doom.”Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 11, 2015, 10:49 a.m., entry to the war against IS will destroy its economy &eliminate its leaders by the permission Allah.” https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619881235029061632.

Al-Iraqi refers to moderate Muslims by the derogatory term “coconuts,” and he considers them closed off to knowledge.Abu Bakr al-Iraqi, Twitter post, July 11, 2015, 10:16 a.m., https://twitter.com/PachaAbuirhabi/status/619872797138001920.He also refers to them as “Munafiqeen,” an Arabic term for hypocrites who outwardly practice Islam but internally question it. He blames the “Munafiqeen” for acting against Islamic interests.

It appears al-Iraqi considers any Muslim not actively siding with ISIS to be part of the munafiqeen, including the Muslim Brotherhood, which he casts as apostates.