After Zarqawi and his men left Afghanistan in 2001, al-Aruri was one of Zarqawi's trusted inner circle advisors and became one of the key liaisons with Ansar al-Islam in Northern Iraq.[6] Al-Aruri operated as al-Zarqawi's quartermaster and was in charge of training camps in Northern Iraq.[7] Abu al-Qassam participated in an important meeting with people close to Mullah Krekar in August 2003 in Tehran.