The shadowy leader of thousands of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, many of them Westerners, appears to be surpassing Al-Qaeda
chief Ayman al-Zawahiri as the world's most influential jihadist. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant -- k**wn for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers -- is arguably the most capable force fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and has even held control of a major Iraqi city for the past five months, in tandem
with other groups. Western governments fear it could eventually emulate Al-Qaeda and strike overseas, but their biggest worry for **w is likely the eventual return home of foreign fighters attracted by
ISIL and Baghdadi. Among them are men like Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old Frenchman who allegedly carried out a deadly shooting on a Jewish museum in Belgium last month after spending a year fighting
with ISIL in Syria.
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