One-time US Prisoner Now Key in Battling IS

One of the key figures participating in the fight against the so-called Islamic State group in Iraq is a Shi’ite militant who less than a decade ago helped coordinate a brazen attack on U.S. troops that left five American soldiers dead.

Qais Khazali commands the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), “League of the Righteous,” an Iranian-funded Shi'ite militia, which, along with other Shi'ite militias, is playing a powerful role in helping turn the tide against the Islamic State group in Iraq.
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As detailed in a 2014 Reuters report, Khazali ordered — with a phone call from jail — that attacks on American and British forces be halted. Harvey would not get into the specifics of his conversations with him but said Khazali “knew things that were going on in Baghdad before I did” — even behind bars.

Khazali was released in late 2009 along with other AAH members in what appeared to be an exchange for British hostage Peter Moore, though the U.S. and Britain have denied making any deal.

“When he came out of jail, he had more legitimacy,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran research analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where he has tracked AAH’s rise.
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