Al-Isawi Martyr Brigade, Brigades of Vengeance, Iraqi Vengeance Brigades

Iraqi Revenge Brigades is a group that claimed responsibility for the January 2005 kidnapping of Minas Ibrahim al-Yusufi, leader of the Iraqi Democratic Christian Party.  <P><br /><br />Al-Yusufi, a Swedish citizen born in Iraq, was taken from his car along the Baghdad-Mosul highway.  Shortly after his abduction, a group calling themselves the Iraqi Revenge Brigades announced they were holding al-Yusufi and demanded a ransom of four million dollars (later lowered to $400,000) for his release.  Over the course of a month, the Brigades released two videos showing al-Yusufi pleading for his life and imploring King Gustaf of Sweden, the International Federation of Christian Parties, the Iraqi Constituent National Assembly, and the Association of Muslim Scholars to help secure his release. <P><br /><br />On March 18th, al-Yusufi was released by the Iraqi Revenge Brigades.  Although official sources remarked that no ransom had been paid, this claim could not be verified. <p><br /><br />Most recently, the group was responsible for the January 2006 kidnapping of Jill Carroll, an American freelance journalist on assignment for the Christian Science Monitor.  Carroll was freed in March 2006.

Kidnapping of foreigners is extremely common in post-war Iraq, although the motives behind such abductions vary greatly.  Sometimes the perpetrators have concrete demands, such as the removal of specific troops from Iraq or the freeing of certain prisoners from U.S. custody.  In other cases the perpetrators simply want to kill their hostage to invoke fear and to deter further foreign involvement.  In the case of the al-Yusufi kidnapping, as it is with many other abductions, the motive seems to be purely monetary.  At no time did al-Yusufi's kidnappers air any grievances or make any demands beyond compensation.  To that end, although the Iraqi Revenge Brigades have not been responsible for further attacks or abductions, it is quite possible that the group is still active and looking to kidnap foreigners or wealthy Iraqis, simply for financial gain.