Qureshi’s name, which means “Emir of the Believers”, may seem philosophically beautiful. But he is now the head of the terrorist group that the United States has declared a terrorist organization, taking responsibility for various terrorist activities during the Syrian crisis. Qureshi’s takeover of al-Baghdadi was a weak and declining caliphate. But it is still a source of fear in the region. But in 2015, at the height of its power, ISIS handed over its future to al-Qureshi.
A man who acted in his own way
The U.S. has announced a $ 10 million reward for information leading to the capture of al-Qureshi. He was killed in a U.S. airstrike in northwestern Syria. The Kurdish forces were also part of the airstrikes. His predecessor, al-Baghdadi, was killed in a similar airstrike in 2019. Qureshi reportedly blew himself up and killed members of his own family, including women and children.
When he first came to power, his name was the most talked about. According to The Indian Express, “Al-Qurashi” is an adjective referring to the Prophet Muhammad’s lineage from the Quraish tribe. His predecessor, al-Baghdadi, made a similar claim, according to the report.
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Within the organization, there were already rumors that he was al-Baghdadi’s successor, initially known as Abdullah Kardash or Haji Abdullah. U.S. and Iraqi intelligence reports later confirmed that al-Qureshi was Khardash himself. His real name is Amir Muhammad Saeed Al Salbi Al Moula. Born in 1976 in Mahlabiyah, a sub-district of Mosul, Iraq, Amir was the youngest of seven children of an Imam. Kardash, from a Sufi family, was known as Shantanu. But it was the extremist atmosphere that surrounded him that influenced him more than his family background.
He was known as a leader who acted without showing any presence. Not much was known about him when he became the leader of ISIS. Even anti-terrorism experts have been scrambling to gather information about him. IS also did not release further details about their new leader in 2019. He has been a leading figure in Iraqi jihadi groups for more than two decades, according to a report in New Lines magazine. He has also fought against the US before. He was also a key figure in the Islamic State group. The report cites al-Baghdadi’s view of him as the future of the Islamic State and his protection from the battlefield. Qureshi was hailed as a “jihadi” with academic study of Islam, more than two decades of experience and new knowledge of the structure of the organization.
Known for its videos of beheadings and other forms of execution, ISIS initially decided to keep a mystery around their new leader. He reportedly went underground in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces and was tasked with rebuilding ISIS. The case of al-Baghdadi was similar, and he was unknown in anti-terrorist circles when he took office. Experts believe that creating confusion among their predators may benefit extremist groups.
More radical attitudes than the predecessor
Al-Qureshi was almost in hiding before taking over the leadership of IS. According to the New Lines report, Qureshi was known as “a man of profound knowledge.” Even before he was elected leader, he dealt with the affairs of the “Caliphate”. According to the report, he started working with ISIS in 2003-04.
Prior to that, he graduated from the University of Mosul in 2000 with 18 months of military training in Qur’anic studies and Islamic education. He is said to have worked with militant groups shortly thereafter. He later earned a master’s degree in Islamic studies. However, he was considered more terrorist than his predecessor, al-Baghdadi.
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During the period of intense conflict within the organization in 2014, when ISIS expanded its control, there were frequent disagreements among its leaders over the enslavement of Yazidi women. The Yazidis are an ancient minority from Kurdistan. ISIS captured and enslaved their women in the name of Sharia.
At the time, however, Khardash was adamant in implementing the “policy” and justified his position by saying that it was based on “the fundamentals of Islamic law.” Abu Ali al-Anbari, one of al-Baghdadi’s key figures and considered his second-in-command, opposed the policy. But al-Baghdadi’s eventual support for Yazidi’s decision to enslave women was a major victory for Qureshi.
US informant?
Ironically, al-Moula was initially unknown at the time of his capture, but there are numerous reports that he was an informant when he was imprisoned under the US military. According to reports in the Washington Post and Business Insider, al-Moula leaked information about the militants to the U.S. military when he was detained and questioned by US and allied forces a decade ago. During that interrogation in 2008, he provided information about other terrorists.
Because of his detention and his record as an informant, the U.S. was able to produce a collection of documents about him. In fact, al-Moula has named at least 88 people linked to the Islamic State in Iraq, where ISIS grew up. Secret documents from the Pentagon-funded Counter-Terrorism Center in the West Point state that he provided detailed descriptions of some of these people when questioned in three stages. This is said to be a source in media reports.
According to these documents, those questioned as part of the investigation referred to him as being cooperative. They also noted that he only provided information on rivals and foreign-born terrorists. But no one knew who the informant was, who Qureshi was going to lead them and their organization in the future.
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