al Qaida #2 in Iraq was Swedish citizen

Al Qaida's #2 in Iraq, Muhammad Moumou, who was killed last week held Swedish citizenship. Moumou obtained Swedish citizenship back in 1994. Moumou was known to Swedish authorities as early as 2004 when he was arrested in Denmark for playing a role in the suicide bombing in Casablance back in 2003 that killed 33 people.

He was a close associate of al-Zarqawi and apparently served as Zarqawi's European liason for chemical and biological weapons.Washington Post

BAGHDAD, Oct. 16 -- Al-Qaeda in Iraq's alleged No. 2 leader, who the U.S. military said died this month after a gun battle with American forces in northern Iraq, was a Swedish citizen designated as a terrorist by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Muhammad Moumou, 43, a Moroccan native, was the man U.S. military officials in Baghdad identified Wednesday as Abu Qaswarah.

U.S. officials say Moumou, who was born in the Moroccan city of Fez and obtained Swedish citizenship in 1994, was a close associate of al-Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2006.

Moumou was the Sunni insurgent group's top commander in northern Iraq, where violence has continued to rage even as al-Qaeda in Iraq has suffered significant setbacks in Baghdad and other former strongholds.

He appears to be the first European citizen to have held a top role within al-Qaeda in Iraq, a largely Iraqi insurgent group that U.S. intelligence officials say is led by non-Iraqi Arabs. He played a key role in recruiting and deploying foreign fighters in Iraq, the U.S. military said.

...

According to reports in the Swedish press, he was arrested in Denmark in March 2004 at the request of Moroccan authorities for his suspected involvement in orchestrating suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 33 people.

U.S. military officials say he became al-Qaeda in Iraq's No. 2 leader in June 2007.[...]

The Swedish Security Service said in its statement that the slain man was "known to have belonged to the leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq for some time," and was known to Swedish security officials for "his activities in violent-leaning Islamic circles" in Sweden.

"The suspected role that the man had in al-Qaeda in Iraq has not been determined to pose a threat to Sweden or Swedish interests," the statement said.

He "reportedly served" as Zarqawi's European liaison on chemical and biological weapons, according to Treasury. The Treasury news release lists past addresses for Moumou in London, Stockholm and Haninge, Sweden. His Swedish passport had a December 2009 expiration date.