(Repeats story from Tuesday) * Baghdadi expands his turf to Libya, Egypt and beyond * Self-appointed caliph sets his sight on Saudi Arabia * Bulk of forces are former Saddam army ******rs * Islamic State gains have confined to Sunni areas * Baghdadi can be easily replaced By Samia Nakhoul BEIRUT, June 16 (Reuters) - A year after declaring his caliphate, it is clear that the secret of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's success is the army and state he has built from the remnants of Saddam Hussein's military, and the allegiance he has won or coerced from alienated Sunni Muslims in Iraq, Syria, and beyond. In that year, the self-appointed caliph has expanded his turf from eastern Syria and western Iraq to include adherents in pockets of war-racked Libya and Egypt's lawless Sinai peninsula.
06-25-2015, 06:49 PM
Saddam's former army is secret of Baghdadi's success
العرض الشجري