IS leader’s wife held by army in Lebanon
Print Edition
THE Lebanese army detained a wife and daughter of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as they crossed from Syria nine days ago, security officials said yesterday, in a setback to the group as it comes under increased military pressure.
The woman was identified as Saja al-Dulaimi, an Iraqi, by a Lebanese security official and a senior political source.
The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir reported she had been detained in coordination with “foreign intelligence.”
The arrest is a blow to Baghdadi and could be used as a bargaining chip against his group, which has captured many foreign, Iraqi and Syrian prisoners and declared a caliphate in territory it has seized in Syria and Iraq.
A senior Lebanese security official said Baghdadi’s wife had been travelling with one of their daughters, contradicting earlier reports that it was his son. DNA tests were conducted to verify it was Baghdadi’s child, the official said.
They were detained in northern Lebanon. Investigators were questioning her at the Lebanese defence ministry. There was no immediate reaction from Islamic State websites.
Dulaimi was one of 150 women released from a Syrian government jail in March as part of a prisoner swap that led to the release of 13 nuns taken captive by al-Qaida-linked militants in Syria, according to reports.
A source with contacts with Iraqi intelligence said the captured woman was an Iraqi wife of Baghdadi’s, but could not confirm the name. There was cooperation between Iraqi and Lebanese authorities leading up to her capture, the source said.
Baghdadi has three wives, two Iraqis and one Syrian, according to tribal sources in Iraq.
The Lebanese security forces have cracked down on the group’s sympathizers and the intelligence services have been extra vigilant on the borders with Syria.
They have arrested over the past few months dozens of militants suspected of staging attacks to expand Islamic State influence in Lebanon.
A US-led alliance is seeking to roll back Islamic State’s territorial gains in Iraq and Syria. US President Barack Obama has vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Baghdadi’s group, which is seeking to reshape the Middle East according to its radical vision of Islam.
Spillover from the Syrian conflict has jolted Lebanon. Militants affiliated to the al- Qaida-linked Nusra Front and Islamic State are demanding the release of Islamists held by the Lebanese authorities in exchange for 27 Lebanese security forces members captured in August.
Islamic State includes thousands of foreign fighters and its leadership draws from militants with combat experience in Iraq.
The United States is offering US$10 million for information leading to the location, arrest, or conviction of Baghdadi, an Iraqi, whose real name is Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarai.
The Lebanese authorities have also detained the wife of Anas Shirkas, senior Nusra Front leader from Syria, security officials said yesterday. They did not identify her.
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