Since his former HQ in Fallujah carried the Al Qaeda banner
and he is recognized worldwide as the second in charge of AQ, and has stated he is in charge of AQ in Iraq, I think the weight of evidence os for the apologists of the idea he is not AQ to prove it.
He was in Iraq after being wounded fighting the American led removal of Al Qaeda and Taliban from the governance of Afghanistan. he was in Iraq with the approval of Saddam Hussein, well before the war to remove him from power and bring civil society to Iraq.
Ed