Abdula Salih Ali

Abdula Salih Ali, also known as Mamosta Kawa, was born in Khanakin, Iraq, on January 1, 1972, though he claimed 1977 as his birth year upon entering Italy, where he was granted political refugee status. He initially settled in Parma in October 2011, receiving a residence permit, later relocating with his wife to Renon in Alto Adige.
A former Peshmerga fighter, he served in Kurdistan in 1988 for four to five months with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (UPK) against Saddam Hussein’s forces. Later, from 1993 to 1997, he fought with the Islamic militia Bzutnawai Islami, during which he came under the command of Mullah Krekar. Between 2002 and 2004, he lived in Parma at a location linked to several individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses, including Muhamad Majid, also known as Mullah Fouad. Evidence suggests that before settling in Italy, Kawa traveled to multiple European countries with Mullah Fouad.
He was affiliated with the Italian cell of Ansar al-Islam, which was targeted by Italian authorities in 2003. Later, Mullah Krekar recruited him into Rawti Shax as an ideological instructor, where he taught Islamic fundamentalism in the Kurdistan Kurd u Islam chatroom on Paltalk, a role that granted him significant influence. After Krekar’s arrest, Kawa, along with Nauroz and Kamil, was appointed as a leading representative of the organization, assuming a leadership role within Rawti Shax’s Italian network.
A Salafi jihadist, Kawa openly praised the Islamic State, advocating for its control over Kurdistan and the implementation of Sharia law. Using digital platforms, he received and disseminated jihadist propaganda, actively radicalizing and recruiting new members. Through online lectures, he legitimized violence as a political and religious tool. He emphasized the importance of qital (combat), asserting that the true meaning of jihad was to kill infidels who imprison Muslims. He taught that those unable to engage in battle had a religious obligation to support jihad financially or through propaganda. He preached that violent retaliation against state institutions opposing Islamic fundamentalism was a religious duty, justifying kidnappings and attacks in Europe and against Western interests in the Middle East.
On April 4, 2012, during a high-level Rawti Shax meeting, Kawa, alongside Nauroz and Kamil, was assigned to establish an operational cell in Italy, aligning it with the organization’s international structure. Kawa maintained ties with known terrorists, openly praising their actions, and acted as a liaison between Rawti Shax’s Italian cell and its European and Middle Eastern networks.
Between August and September 2012, he and his wife, Alig Bag Solav, alias Naza, managed a Kurdish migrant smuggling network under Awat Karkuky’s orders. Together, they facilitated the illegal entry of two migrants into Italy, arranging Western Union transfers to fund their journey. His wife, deeply committed to jihad, expressed willingness to follow him to Syria for combat.
In February 2013, he expressed a desire to die for Islam, and his wife consented to him going to Syria to fight. By May 2013, he visited Hasan Saman Jalal in Bolzano, preparing to relocate permanently to Alto Adige, which he did in June 2013. Once there, he further strengthened ties with other Rawti Shax members, including Nauroz, Hasan Saman Jalal, and Hodza Eldin, already living in Alto Adige.
By November 2013, Nauroz pressured Hasan Saman Jalal and his wife to embrace jihad, citing Quranic justifications for killing infidels, though they hesitated due to moral concerns over civilian casualties. In August 2014, when Jalal questioned the necessity of jihad, Nauroz chastised him, declaring that not joining the fight was foolish, as jihad was the path to paradise.
In 2015, he was convicted of criminal association for terrorist purposes by the Tribunal of Trento and sentenced to four years in prison, subsequently being incarcerated in the high-security facility of Rossano Calabro. In 2017, the Bolzano Court of Appeal upheld his four-year sentence.