The GSPC is "believed to have close ties to Osama bin Laden" (Paris AFX News Agency, Jul 13, 2005) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (Asharq Alaswat Jul 3 2005), and is reported to be active in Italy (Deutsche Welle, Jul 15 2005).
Abu Dhabi | Abu Ghraib | Mount Abu | Abu Bakr | Mumia Abu-Jamal | Abu Zubaydah | Battle of Abu Klea | Abu Sayyaf | Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse | Ahmed Omar Abu Ali | Abu Qubays | Abu Musab al-Zarqawi | Abu Mu'az al-Jeddawi | Abu Hamad | Abu Sufyan ibn Harb | Abu Omar al-Kurdi | 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | Tell Abu Hureyra | Sami Abu Zuhri | Abu Sa'id Mirza | Abu Sa'id (Ilkhanid dynasty) | Abu Saiba | Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani | Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi | Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak | Abu Dhabi (emirate) | Abu Abdullah al-Shafi'i | Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail | Sultan Abu Bakar | Shaziman Abu Mansor |
During this same timeframe, US forces made significant progress in eliminating some of al-Qaeda in Iraq's top leadership: a 7 June 2006 airstrike killed al-Zarqawi and his spiritual advisor Sheik Abd-Al-Rahman while the organization's reputed second-in-command, Hamid Juma Faris Jouri al-Saeedi, was captured in a joint US/Iraqi raid on 19 June 2006.
In January 2005, a top bombmaker for Zarqawi's group, Abu Omar al-Kurdi, was captured by the coalition and claimed his associates made the bomb used in this attack.
The kingdom does have notable intelligence capabilities vis-à-vis Iraq, and it reportedly helped the United States track down and kill Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
It is based on interviews with senior Islamic militants, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Saif al-Adel, a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda and Islamic Jihad.
Ghul was carrying a USB flash drive and two CDs, one allegedly including a 17-page progress report believed to have been written by al-Zarqawi, claiming responsibility for suicide attacks in Iraq.
They claim that Abu Omar al-Kurdi, a top Zarqawi bombmaker who was captured in January 2005, confessed to carrying out this bombing.