DUBAI – A new “war minister” has been named for the Al-Qaeda front organisation in Iraq following the deaths last month of two top leaders, an Internet monitoring group reported on Friday.
The US-based SITE Intelligence Group service said that the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), the branch of Al-Qaeda in the country, named him in a statement posted on jihadist Internet forums.
“The new War Minister is identified as al-Nasser Lideen Illah Abu Suleiman, ‘The Supporter for the Faith of Allah, Abu Suleiman’,” it reported.
On April 18, two top Al-Qaeda commanders, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri, were killed in a shootout when a joint Iraqi-US force raided their safehouse north of Baghdad.
Baghdadi was the political leader of the group in Iraq while Masri, an Egyptian militant, was its self-styled “minister of war.”
“The ISI had not previously announced replacements for these top officials,” SITE said on Friday.
It said Abu Suleiman also announced a military campaign dubbed “The Attack of the Monotheists in Revenge for Honours in the Prisons of Apostates,” and vowed that the ISI will continue to wage jihad.
“The new War Minister is identified as al-Nasser Lideen Illah Abu Suleiman, ‘The Supporter for the Faith of Allah, Abu Suleiman’,” it reported.
On April 18, two top Al-Qaeda commanders, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayub al-Masri, were killed in a shootout when a joint Iraqi-US force raided their safehouse north of Baghdad.
Baghdadi was the political leader of the group in Iraq while Masri, an Egyptian militant, was its self-styled “minister of war.”
“The ISI had not previously announced replacements for these top officials,” SITE said on Friday.
It said Abu Suleiman also announced a military campaign dubbed “The Attack of the Monotheists in Revenge for Honours in the Prisons of Apostates,” and vowed that the ISI will continue to wage jihad.
Source: Middle East Online