Abdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmalek Rigi (Abdulmalik Rigi) | |
|---|---|
| File:Medium rigibaloch 2.jpg | |
| Nickname(s) | Rigi |
| Allegiance | Jundallah (Brigade of God)[1] People Resistance Movement of Iran |
| Years of service | 1998 - present |
| Rank | Commander-in-chief |
| Battles / wars | Rebellion in Iran Baloch people rights |
Abdolmalek Rigi (also spelt Abdul-Malek Rigi or Abdulmalik Rigi) is the leader of Jundallah, a Sunni militant organization based in the southeastern area of Iran, Balochistan. The group is said to be backed by the U.S. since 2005[1]. However, that information has been subjected to caution, since its source, Alexis Debat, a consultant for ABC News since six years, and writer at The National Interest, has been revealed as having made two bogus interviews, one of Barrack Obama and another of Alan Greenspan, and of having faked a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne University [2] Template:En icon, [3] Template:Fr icon, [4] Template:Fr icon. Debat was forced to resign both from ABC News and from The National Interest. Iran accuses the group of being affiliated with Al-Qaeda[5] [6]although no proof of such link has been found by independent sources [7].
Rigi has taken several Iranian border guards as hostages and funded his movement by demanding ransom for their release. Other funding may come from Balochis in exile.[8] [9] [10]
Iran executed alleged Jundallah members for the February 14, 2007, car bombing which targeted a bus motorcade carrying members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard as they passed through the Sistan-Baluchistan capital of Zahedan. Eleven Revolutionary Guardsmen were killed and 31 were injured. [11][12][13][14]. In contrast to Al-Qaeda, Rigi targests exclusively Iranian government targets and primarily military ones [15][16]. In an interview with Dan Rather, Rigi describes the Iranian military as "cowardly."[17]
Rigi describes himself as an Iranian and denies that his goal is to form a separate Baluchistan autonomous region. Rather, his goal is to improve conditions for ethnic Baluchis[18][19].
The Iranian newspaper Kayhan incorrectly reported on 7 April, 2005, "Abdolmalek Rigi, leader of the terrorist group, the Jundullah... was killed in an operation on the border with Afghanistan."[20]. A video surfaced on 11 April showing Rigi alive[21].
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