ISIL's Leaders in Libya, Syria May Be Possible Successors of Al-Baghdadi

Rasa - Speculations are increasing within the ranks of ISIL over the possible successor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the recent reports about his death.

News ID: 431012

Date: 15 July 2017 - 23:14

RNA - According to reports, ISIL's leader in Libya Jalalulddin al-Tunisi and ISIL's leader in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Shamali are the main two picks to lead the terrorist group after al-Baghdadi.

Jalalulddin al-Tunisi, whose real name is Mohammad Bin Salem al-Oyoni, was born in 1982 and is a resident of the town of Masaken in Souseh province in Central Tunisia.

Al-Oyoni has also acquired the French nationality after his trip to the European country before joining terrorist groups in Tunisia in 2011-2012.

Al-Oyoni joined ISIL in Iraq and Syria in 2013 and 2014.

American and Iraqi sources claimed that six commanders of ISIL, including one of the Belgian-Algerian and a French member of the terrorist group are read to be the successor of al-Baghdadi.

According to earlier reports, the ISIL leader is likely to be succeeded by one of his two top deputies who were army officers during the time of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Experts on ISIL terrorist group see no other successor for Baghdadi but Iyad al-Obaidi and Ayad al-Jumaili.

Al-Obaidi who is War Minister of ISIL is almost fifty and al-Jumaili, who is top Intelligence official of the ISIL, is in the fourth decade of his life.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri), also known as Abu Dua, was born in 1971 in the city of Samarra in Iraq.

According to media reports, al-Baghdadi was brought up in a religious family. His relatives were famous preachers and specialists of the Arabic language, rhetoric and logic. He received a PhD in Islamic law from the University of Baghdad.

Al-Baghdadi was proclaimed the caliph of Daesh, a "caliphate" created on the territories Daesh managed to seize in Syria and Iraq in late June 2014.

Reports of al-Baghdadi’s death repeatedly appear in the world media. His death was reported in November 2014, April 2015, June, October and December 2016 and January 2017.

According to reports, ISIL members live in fear and anxiety after they heard news about the Syrian army's intensified operations in Deir Ezzur, Hama, Homs and Raqqa and liberation of group's de facto capital in Iraq, Mosul, as well as death of the Takfiri terrorist group's leader.

On Tuesday, the Al Sumaria News broadcaster and UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the ISIL issued a statement confirming al-Baghdadi's death.

On June 16, the Russian Defense Ministry said al-Baghdadi was likely eliminated as a result of a Russian Aerospace Forces strike on a militant command post in the southern suburb of the city of Raqqa in late May. It noted that it was in the process of confirming the information through various channels.

Al-Baghdadi appeared in the media for the first time in 2014 when he declared the creation of a caliphate in the Middle East. Since then, the media outlets have reported several times about the death of the ISIL leader, though the information has never been confirmed.

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