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Trump Says US Knows True Identity of New IS Leader

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - Just a day after the Islamic State terror group revealed
   the name of its new leader, President Donald Trump said the U.S. knows
   the man's true identity.
   "We know exactly who he is!" the president tweeted Friday, without
   elaborating.

     ISIS has a new leader. We know exactly who he is!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]November 1, 2019

   An audio message distributed on social media Thursday by IS' Amaq news
   agency called the new leader only by his kunya, or nom de guerre, Abu
   Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
   The name, according to analysts, indicates the new leader is a
   descendant of the Hashemite clan of the Qurashi tribe, which by
   bloodline would link the new leader to the Prophet Muhammed -- an IS
   requirement for any would-be caliph.
   The announcement, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence
   Group, also suggests al-Qurashi is both a scholar and a warrior,
   calling him a "scholar of scholars," while saying he "has attacked the
   protector of the Cross America."
   But while U.S. intelligence agencies have been examining Thursday's
   audio message, officials have yet to make a public determination about
   al-Qurashi's real identity.
   Some officials and analysts have speculated al-Qurashi may be Hajji
   'Abdallah, one of IS' most senior ideologues.
   Also known by other aliases, including [2]Amir Muhammad Sa'id
   Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, he is a religious scholar who rose through the
   group's ranks and is thought to have been one of the architects of the
   slaughter and abduction of the Yazidi religious minority.
   Another name that has been mentioned is Abdullah Qardesh, thought to be
   a former Iraqi military officer, though experts disagree over whether
   he and Hajji 'Abdallah are actually different people.
   But for now, analysts say IS will likely try to keep the new leader's
   true identity a mystery for as long as possible.
   "My prediction would be that the new caliph would just be just as
   secretive and just as recluse as Baghdadi was," said Amarnath
   Amarasingam, a terrorism researcher and assistant professor at Queen's
   University in Ontario Canada, who has interviewed active members of the
   movement.

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1190261874371244032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/amir_al_malwa.html

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