I dont know how accurate this source quoted in the article is: "According to Atmane Tazaghart and Roland Jacquard, in the French Figaro magazine, it was founded by Abu Abdallah Hassan Ben Mahmoud on the 29th of September 2003" I haven't been able to confirm this with any source on the internet. The only information I have found about Ben Mahmoud is that he is a field commander with al Qaeda in Iraq. I know the Washington post interviewed the current leader Ishmael Jubouri in Late November of 2004 . Try to solve this factual dispute quickly it's already been quoted by many others.