Exclusive Rudaw Interview with former friend of Baghdadi

[Sally]

See what a former friend of Baghdadi has to say about him.



Interview

Exclusive Rudaw Interview with former friend of Baghdadi
8 hours ago

-


By Omar Ali


There has been little known about Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the mysterious and reclusive leader of the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS. But Rudaw has obtained exclusive access to a former friend of Baghdadi. For the first time, a biography of Baghdad emerges through questions answered by the former friend, who spoke to Rudaw on condition of anonymity. Identifying himself as Abu Muhammad, the 40-year-old revealed that he had been living with Baghdadi for some time, and was surprised that his former housemate has emerged as the world’s most dangerous person. Abu Muhammad, who is a civil servant in Baghdad, remembers Baghdadi as a modest and inconspicuous person. According to him, Baghdadi had lived in an urban neighborhood in Baghdad in the 1990s, studying Islamic Sharia before becoming the leader of the world’s most dangerous group.

According to residents, Baghdadi would preach every Friday in the capital’s Topchi neighborhood. He studied at the Haji Zedan Mosque religious school. Many students coming from Mosul and Tikrit stayed at the mosque while studying. This was coordinated by the head of the mosque. Those who liked Islamic Sharia turned to the mosque.

Reports from various sources have suggested that Baghdadi has been detached from leading ISIS, possibly because of injuries to his spine from coalition air strikes. But Abu Asaad Ansari, an ISIS preacher in Mosul who preaches about ISIS affairs every week, says that Baghdadi is safe leading the ISIS frontlines in Iraq’s Anbar province.

I never expected that someday a person as calm as he would become one of the world’s most dangerous killers

Baghdadi was born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Badri in 1971 in Samara, Salahaddin province, and only later took the name by which the world knows him. He became emir of the Islamic State in 2010 in Iraq, declaring the Islamic caliphate on July 5, 2014 in the Great Light Mosque after leading Friday prayers. He obtained his PhD from the Islamic University in Baghdad.

Baghdadi reportedly has at least two wives. He was detained in late 2004 by US forces troops in Iraq and spent two years at the Boka military prison in Basra. He has established a number of small organizations. When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in Iraq by US troops in 2006, Baghdadi became a leading figure within al-Qaeda in Iraq. After Abu Hamza Muhajir was killed, he became the leading individual within the extremist group. Baghdadi has appeared on video only once and released four voice messages. In the past, he customarily held a low profile, even covering his face with a mask when speaking to his followers, earning him the moniker of “the masked sheikh.” All those who knew him in the past, before he turned radical, remember him as eloquent, calm and contained.

For the first time, a former friend of Baghdadi spoke to Rudaw about this secretive and complex person.

Rudaw: What did you think when you heard that Abu Bakr Baghdadi has established the Islamic Caliphate and declared himself a Caliph?

Abu Muhammad: I never expected that someday a person as calm as he would become one of the world’s most dangerous killers and would take over a giant province like Nineveh and set up his state there.

Rudaw: How did you call him in the past?

Abu Muhammad: We called him Mulla and Sheikh Ibrahim when he lived in Topchi neighborhood. He rented a home just across the mosque which had two rooms.

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Exclusive Rudaw Interview with former friend of Baghdadi

 

[aris2chat]

I wish we could find something like Taeniasis as the cause of hate and terrorism in the region

 

[Sunni Man]

See what a former friend of Baghdadi has to say about him.



Interview

Exclusive Rudaw Interview with former friend of Baghdadi
8 hours ago

-


By Omar Ali


There has been little known about Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the mysterious and reclusive leader of the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS. But Rudaw has obtained exclusive access to a former friend of Baghdadi. For the first time, a biography of Baghdad emerges through questions answered by the former friend, who spoke to Rudaw on condition of anonymity. Identifying himself as Abu Muhammad, the 40-year-old revealed that he had been living with Baghdadi for some time, and was surprised that his former housemate has emerged as the world’s most dangerous person. Abu Muhammad, who is a civil servant in Baghdad, remembers Baghdadi as a modest and inconspicuous person. According to him, Baghdadi had lived in an urban neighborhood in Baghdad in the 1990s, studying Islamic Sharia before becoming the leader of the world’s most dangerous group.

According to residents, Baghdadi would preach every Friday in the capital’s Topchi neighborhood. He studied at the Haji Zedan Mosque religious school. Many students coming from Mosul and Tikrit stayed at the mosque while studying. This was coordinated by the head of the mosque. Those who liked Islamic Sharia turned to the mosque.

Reports from various sources have suggested that Baghdadi has been detached from leading ISIS, possibly because of injuries to his spine from coalition air strikes. But Abu Asaad Ansari, an ISIS preacher in Mosul who preaches about ISIS affairs every week, says that Baghdadi is safe leading the ISIS frontlines in Iraq’s Anbar province.

I never expected that someday a person as calm as he would become one of the world’s most dangerous killers

Baghdadi was born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Badri in 1971 in Samara, Salahaddin province, and only later took the name by which the world knows him. He became emir of the Islamic State in 2010 in Iraq, declaring the Islamic caliphate on July 5, 2014 in the Great Light Mosque after leading Friday prayers. He obtained his PhD from the Islamic University in Baghdad.

Baghdadi reportedly has at least two wives. He was detained in late 2004 by US forces troops in Iraq and spent two years at the Boka military prison in Basra. He has established a number of small organizations. When Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in Iraq by US troops in 2006, Baghdadi became a leading figure within al-Qaeda in Iraq. After Abu Hamza Muhajir was killed, he became the leading individual within the extremist group. Baghdadi has appeared on video only once and released four voice messages. In the past, he customarily held a low profile, even covering his face with a mask when speaking to his followers, earning him the moniker of “the masked sheikh.” All those who knew him in the past, before he turned radical, remember him as eloquent, calm and contained.

For the first time, a former friend of Baghdadi spoke to Rudaw about this secretive and complex person.

Rudaw: What did you think when you heard that Abu Bakr Baghdadi has established the Islamic Caliphate and declared himself a Caliph?

Abu Muhammad: I never expected that someday a person as calm as he would become one of the world’s most dangerous killers and would take over a giant province like Nineveh and set up his state there.

Rudaw: How did you call him in the past?

Abu Muhammad: We called him Mulla and Sheikh Ibrahim when he lived in Topchi neighborhood. He rented a home just across the mosque which had two rooms.

Continue reading at:

Exclusive Rudaw Interview with former friend of Baghdadi

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