An interview published in Saturday's Washington Post with a member of the Iraq insurgency reveals another example of the deadly postwar cooperation between members of Saddam Hussein's former ruling party and al Qaeda in Iraq. In the piece, written by Joshua Hartlow, the insurgent identifies himself as "Abu Sarhan" and revealed that he "had been an officer in the Fedayeen (pictured right via Answers.com), the black-clad paramilitary force of the ousted government of Saddam Hussein."

"Sarhan" went on to describe how he later became the "'general coordinator' between al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Omar Brigade, an insurgent group founded in July 2005 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi." The Omar Brigade is a group set up by Abu Musab al Zarqawi, before his death, to counter Shi'ites, particularly the Badr Brigade, an enemy of both al Qaeda in Iraq and Baathists.

The Post also managed to interview

An associate of Abu Sarhan's vouched for his leadership credentials. And a college student in Amiriyah, who said he is not an insurgent but that he had met Abu Sarhan briefly about two weeks earlier, said the Sunni insurgent is considered the leader of the Omar Brigade.

As Strategy Page analysts recently wrote (there are also Baathist linked groups who are confronting al Qaeda) the destination of choice for many al Qaeda members fleeing the U.S. surge in Iraq is areas like parts of Baghdad and Baqouba where Saddam Hussein loyalists continue to still have a foothold.

cross-posted at www.regimeofterror.com