The life of this Iraqi born into a poor family in 1971 and whose death announced on Saturday during an American raid in Syria, remains a mystery.
Subscribers article
On the sixth day of Ramadan 1435 (in the Hegira calendar) and the first Friday of the holy month, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, dressed in black at the Mosul Al-Nuri Mosque, is now destroyed. head encircled with a black turban too. The imam who usually officiates on Friday has been ousted, he will be assassinated later, after refusing to pledge allegiance to "Caliph Ibrahim". The reign of Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State (IS) organization, is then announced under the sign of submission or death. It ended, according to Washington, on the night of Saturday 26 to Sunday, October 27, during a raid of US special forces in Syria.
The founding preaching, pronounced on July 4, 2014 in a firm and assured voice from the top of the minbar, is a declaration of authority: "I am the wali (governor) appointed to lead you, but I'm not better than you, says the speaker. If you think I'm right, help me, and, if you think I'm wrong, advise me and put me on the right path. Obey me as long as you obey God. "
The scene, filmed by three cameras, suggests a much less serene atmosphere than what the jihadist organization seeks to present. Pistols in evidence, guards are posted to the columns of the prayer room, and Kalashnikovs are placed against a wall, a few meters from the "caliph". The very approach of Baghdadi intrigues.
His slow pace, his motionless arm and his hand under his chest, seem to indicate that he is carrying a weapon. At the very heart of his "caliphate", in the Al-Nouri mosque, he does not seem to feel safe. Faithful present that day will tell that their phones have been confiscated, and that the telecommunications networks have been cut in the neighborhood.
Five days earlier, on June 29, 2014, the enigmatic Iraqi rebel leader of the Islamic State (IS) group had announced the proclamation of a "caliphate" on the territories controlled by the jihadist organization in Iraq and Syria. He himself was becoming, in the words of his spokesman, Abu Mohammed Al-Adnani, "The sheikh, the mujahid, the imam, the devotee, the reviver descendant of the prophetic lineage, the servant of God Ibrahim Ibn Iwad, Ibn Ibrahim, Ibn Ali, Ibn Muhammad Al-Badri Al-Hachimi Al-Housayni Al-Qurachi by his lineage (…) become by that imam and caliph of all Muslims all over the world. "
