Terror threat

Ex-Saddam Hussein Officer Becomes New Daesh Leader – Reports

After US military operations Saturday and Sunday resulted in the deaths of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in Syria, the terrorist organization has reportedly acquired a new leader.

Abdullah Qardash, who reportedly bears the nicknames “the Destoyer” and “The Professor,” was reportedly already overseeing Daesh’s day-to-day operations and kill campaigns and has formally become its leader in the wake of Baghdadi’s death on Saturday, Newsweek reported, citing a regional intelligence official.

Qardash was previously an officer of the Iraqi military during the reign of the late President Saddam Hussein.
“Baghdadi was a figurehead. He was not involved in operations or day-to-day,” the official told Newsweek. “All Baghdadi did was say yes or no — no planning.”

According to the Times of London, Qardash had been loyal to Baghdadi, as the pair were held in the Camp Bucca detention centre in Basra, Iraq, after being jailed by US forces over their links to al-Qaeda in 2003, and Baghdadi was even handing more power to Qardash before he died. Fadhel Abo Ragheef, a former security analyst with the Iraqi government, told the Times in August that Baghdadi was “trying to prepare Qardash to lead ISIS in the future.”