Abdul Rahman Nauroz

Abdul Rahman Nauroz, also known as Mala Omar, Halo, Tarany, Sarbazy Nanasraw, or Omar Sharazuzy, was born on April 1, 1979, in Beji, Iraq. He was a member of Ansar al-Islam, fighting in Iraq during the 1990s before joining Rawti Shax, where he played a central role in ideological dissemination and became a key member of the Italian cell.
In 2008, he sought political asylum in Italy using fraudulent documents, which were later discovered. He settled in Merano, Trentino-Alto Adige, where he never held regular employment and received a monthly subsistence allowance. By 2010, he had come under investigative scrutiny due to his activity on www.jarchive.info, a website that published al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations’ materials. He also maintained ties with individuals connected to terrorism and was actively involved in the Ibn Taymiyyah online training platform, managed by Mullah Krekar as the ideological core of Rawti Shax. As a dedicated student, Nauroz actively participated in courses and exams on the platform.
He openly praised the Islamic State, advocating for its control over Kurdistan and the implementation of Sharia law. He also glorified the actions of terrorists, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the then leader of ISIS. Using online platforms, he worked to radicalize Muslims, recruit members to Rawti Shax, and promote jihad and martyrdom. He administered the “Kurdistan Kurd u Islam DiDiNwe” chatroom on Paltalk, which he used to propagate violence as a political and religious weapon. He actively spread jihadist propaganda, producing and sharing extremist materials.
In early 2011, he hosted Hasan Saman Jalal and his wife, initiating their radicalization process. Seeking further indoctrination, he later explored training camps in Iraq for Mujahideen families, intending to send Jalal, his wife, and their children there.
Nauroz played a key role in Rawti Shax’s European operations, maintaining ties with individuals linked to terrorism and acting as a liaison between the Italian cell and networks across Europe and the Middle East. He also forged connections with al-Nusra, evidenced by contacts with its members, including Sheda Sameer, who was actively engaged in jihad in Syria. In September 2011, he travelled to Sofia and Athens to explore criminal networks and establish a human trafficking route.
Nauroz was also involved in fundraising, securing financial support for Rawti Shax’s activities, the families of deceased fighters, and ideological aligned individuals across Europe and the Middle East. Additionally, he was tasked with procuring weapons for the organization. In February 2012, Makwan instructed him to acquire two guns, leading him to contact Mahmod Mahamad Arkan, a Rawti Shax affiliate in Switzerland, to arrange the purchase. He also researched online the construction of improvised explosive devices and even enrolled in a blacksmithing course to gain mechanical expertise for bomb-making.
Between February and March 2012, he travelled to Norway to meet Mullah Krekar and discuss high-profile attacks on diplomatic targets with the so-called “six brothers.” Among the proposed actions was kidnapping the British ambassador, intended as a warning before Krekar’s trial verdict. Even after Krekar’s arrest, Nauroz continued advocating for kidnappings and attacks in Europe and against Western interests, believing they were necessary to secure Krekar’s release from prison.
Following Krekar’s imprisonment, Nauroz was appointed as a key leader of Rawti Shax. In March 2012, he participated in a meeting on the Arabic Aynda platform, used for Rawti Shax’s secret communications. A month later, during another high-level gathering, he was given responsibility for coordinating the group’s Italian cell within its international network. This cell, which included Hasan Saman, Abdula Salih Ali (Kawa), and Hodza Eldin, promoted extremist ideology, encouraged terrorist activities in Syria and Kurdistan, and facilitated the departure of recruits from Europe to join ISIS and other jihadist groups.
In particular, Nauroz worked closely with other militants to secure funding and logistics, organizing routes for recruits traveling to Syria. One of them was Hodza Eldin, who, between December 2013 and January 2014, was integrated into the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of the Levant in Syria with Nauroz’s financial and logistical assistance. Committed to the cause, Nauroz even contemplated joining the armed jihad himself.
Maintaining ties with jihadist networks, including Sheda Sameer from al-Nusra, he later tried to arrange Eldin’s return to Syria in October 2014 for further terrorist operations. He also sought to send Jalal Fatah Kamil to Syria, attempting to manipulate him into joining, but logistical obstacles prevented his plans from materializing.
As authorities closed in, Nauroz expressed his desire to leave Italy to evade imprisonment, increasing his foreign contacts, particularly with Sameer, to facilitate his escape. On the night of January 27, 2015, he attempted to travel to Syria, but on January 28, he was arrested in Merano by Italian authorities, executing a detention order issued against him. He was convicted of criminal association for terrorist purposes by the Tribunal of Trento and sentenced to six years in prison, subsequently being incarcerated in the high-security facility of Rossano Calabro. In 2017, the Bolzano Court of Appeal upheld his six-year sentence. Then, the Supreme Court also upheld his six-year sentence.