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.
06-07-2014, 01:07 PM
ISIL chief vies with Qaeda's Zawahiri
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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