| Abu Omar al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi | |
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Commander of The
Islamic State of Iraq
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| Incumbent | |
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Assumed office 21 Ramadan, 2006 |
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Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi (ابو عبدالله الراشد البغدادي) (also known as Abu Hamza al-Baghdadi and Abu Omar al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi)[1][2] is the nom de guerre of the person purported to be the leader (or emir) of the former Mujahideen Shura Council (also known as the "Council of Freedom Fighters,"[3] the "Consultative Council of Mujahedeen,"[2] and the "Council of Holy Warriors"),[4] an umbrella organization composed of eight groups that oppose the United States' military presence in Iraq, and purported to be the head of the Islamic State of Iraq.
The Interior Ministry of Iraq claimed that al-Baghdadi was captured in Baghdad on March 9, 2007,[5] but it was later said that the person in question was not al-Baghdadi.[6] On May 3, 2007, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said that al-Baghdadi was killed by American and Iraqi forces north of Baghdad.[7] However, in July 2007, the U.S. military reported that al-Baghdadi never actually existed.[8] The detainee identified as Khaled al-Mashhadani, a self-proclaimed intermediary to Osama bin Laden, claimed that al-Baghdadi was a fictional character created to give an Iraqi face to a foreign-run terror group, and that statements attributed to al-Baghdadi were actually read by an Iraqi actor.[9]
In March 2008 the spokesman for an insurgent organization that is hostile to the Coalition, Hamas-Iraq, claimed that al-Baghdadi is a fabrication made by Al Qaeda to put a false Iraqi face to their organization.[10]
On May 7, 2008 the Arabic-language satellite channel Al-Arabiya, citing information obtained from an Iraqi police official, identified al-Baghdadi as Hamid Dawoud al-Zawi.[11]
On April 23, 2009, AFP reported that he was arrested by the Iraqi military[12], and on April 28 the Iraqi government produced photos to prove it to skeptics. The claim was denied by the Islamic State in Iraq[13] which according to SITE Institute released an apparently genuine recording of al-Baghdadi denying the government's recent claims. However, the Iraqi government refuted this claim and insisted that the man captured was indeed Baghdadi.[14]
   | Insurgent leader arrested in Iraq - Wimmera Mail Times - Wimmera news, classifieds and community |
| | Profile - Abu Omar al-Baghdadi |
| | "Captured Iraqi not al-Baghdadi" - Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Captured Iraqi not al-Baghdadi |
| | "Iraq says insurgent leader dead" - U.S. says terrorist in Jill Carroll kidnapping killed - CNN.com |
| | Senior Qaeda figure in Iraq a myth: U.S. military - Senior Qaeda figure in Iraq a myth: U.S. military | Reuters |
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