Khaled Al-Asad (Original)

"The man is a coward Captain Price. Al-Asad would never sacrifice himself."

--Nikolai

Khaled Al-Asad is a military commander in an unnamed Arab country in the Arabian Peninsula. He was featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as the main villain in the first chapter, until Imran Zakhaev takes his place as the primary antagonist in two other chapters.

As one of the so-called "Four Horsemen", Khaled Al-Asad is responsible for toppling President Yasir Al-Fulani, who is accused for supporting of Western countries for his self-interests. Al-Fulani is soon captured by Al-Asad's troops and transported in a car to the arena, where he is executed by Al-Asad himself on national television. Al-Asad assumes control of the country, but in the eyes of the United States, Al-Asad's rule in his nation threatens the whole political stability in the Middle-East. The US military sends United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance to Al-Asad's country and orders the unit to locate and capture the power-hungry commander. The Americans locate a television station where Al-Asad is broadcasting his speech on national television, but it turns out that the speech was recorded and Al-Asad has gone hiding into an unknown location. The US military assumes that Al-Asad is hiding in the capital city and the attack force consisting of AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships, CH-46 Sea Knight transport helicopters, M1 Abrams main battle tanks and hundreds of soldiers are dispatched to assault the city. Al-Asad is not found in the city, but the Americans locate a Russian-made nuclear warhead in his palace. The NEST teams are dispatched to disarm the weapon, but the warhead is detonated by Al-Asad's men, annihilating most of the invading US forces. Sergeant Paul Jackson and Lieutenant Vasquez are among the victims of the massive nuclear explosion that destroys the city.

Nikolai, a Russian informant to the British Special Air Service, reveals that Al-Asad may be hiding in his safehouse in Azerbaijan, protected by Russian Ultranationalists. Captain Price, Gaz and John "Soap" MacTavish are dispatched to the village where Al-Asad is hiding, and soon Al-Asad is captured by the SAS. Cpt. Price ties Al-Asad in to a chair for questioning, but when the interrogation is over, Price kills Al-Asad by shooting him in the head with his M1911. After Al-Asad is dead, the British and Americans realize that the coup in the Middle-Eastern region was masterminded and funded by Al-Asad's ally, Russian Ultranationalist leader Imran Zakhaev, who attempted to draw the attention of the United States from the Russian civil war, to ensure his victory over the loyalist forces.

Al-Asad's Army (OpFor)
Al-Asad's army uses primarily Russian-designed weapons such as the AK-47, AK-74U and the RPG-7. However, they also use the German G3 assault rifle. They also use primarily Russian-designed vehicles such as the BMP-2, T-72 and Mi-24. It is likely that the Ultranationalists supplied them with this equipment. They only appear during the Prologue and Act 1 chapters, afterwards replaced with the Russian Ultranationalists. It is possible that the remaining OpFor were all killed but some may have survived and joined forces with the Ultranationalists but are just not seen.

In the multiplayer, player models are usually designed to the character's primary weapon, e. g., a player using the shotgun would appear as an OpFor member with a burglar mask, a sniper would have a bandanna on his neck with a beret (a model that Al-Asad has), and SMG users tend to have an Islamic headdress that covers the face except the eyes.

Trivia

 * The name Al-Asad means "the lion" in the Arabic language.
 * In an edition of GamePro, a preview on Call of Duty 4 erroneously names him 'Allisad'.
 * Al-Asad is the name of a U.S base in Iraq, as featured in Andy McNab's Book; Bravo Two Zero.


 * OpFor is a shortened term for "Opposing Force", a term used in war game scenarios for representing a hypothetical enemy.
 * The OpFor originally had a different flag, as seen on the right. It looks like a turned Iraqi, Yemen, Syrian, or Egyptian flag with two swords (scimitars) in the white part.  It might have been changed because of its similarities with those flags.
 * Although the nationality of the OpFor forces is never explicitly stated, reference to the in-game maps indicates that it is in fact Iranian. This is unusual, as Iran is a large Farsi-speaking country, despite the OpFor nation being referred to as a small Arabic country, and that all OpFor soldiers encountered speak Arabic.  This evidence supports the idea that the OpFor nation is in fact fictional, and was created only for story and gameplay purposes.
 * When Captain Price executes him, the M1911 he used makes the sound of a Desert Eagle.
 * Ironically, Al-Asad executes President Al-Fulani at point blank range. Captain Price executes Al-Asad at point blank range, making the execution somethin like karma.
 * Price's M1911 might make a Desert Eagle sound because it might have been possible that originally he was going to use a Desert Eagle. This is also very ironic because Al-Asad executed Al-Fulani with a Desert Eagle.