Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani

Who is Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani?

Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani also known as Hamid Thajil Warij al-Attabi or Hamid al-Sheibani is an Iraqi Shi'a leader who commands his own insurgent group and smuggling network known as the Sheibani Network, which became one of the Iraqi Special Groups. An arrest warrant was issued for him by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq on April 12, 2005 with a reward of $200,000 for information leading to his capture. In 2006 he was added to the Iraqi Government's 41 Most-Wanted list. He holds both Iraqi and Iranian nationality because he lived in exile in Iran during Saddam Hussein's rule later returned there to live in Tehran after 2006. In September 2010, after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki formed a coalition government with Shi'a rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr, Sheibani was allowed to return to Iraq along with Abu Deraa.

Sheibani was a former member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq's Badr Brigades, after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq he created an arms smuggling network linked to Iran's Quds Force.