Aloof. Polite. Cajoling. Extremely attentive. Restrained. Dishonest.
Inscrutable.
Malicious. The rebels from northern Syria, remembering encounters with him months later, recall completely different facets of the man. But they agree on one thing: "We never knew exactly who we were sitting across from."
In fact, not even those who shot and killed him after a brief firefight
in the town of Tal Rifaat on a January morning in 2014 knew the true
identity of the tall man in his late fifties. They were unaware that
they had killed the strategic head of the group calling itself "Islamic
State" (IS). The fact that this could have happened at all was the
result of a rare but fatal miscalculation by the brilliant planner. The
local rebels placed the body into a refrigerator, in which they intended
to bury him. Only later, when they realized how important the man was,
did they lift his body out again.
Malicious. The rebels from northern Syria, remembering encounters with him months later, recall completely different facets of the man. But they agree on one thing: "We never knew exactly who we were sitting across from."
Samir Abd Muhammad al-Khlifawi was the real name of the Iraqi, whose
bony features were softened by a white beard. But no one knew him by
that name. Even his best-known pseudonym, Haji Bakr, wasn't widely
known. But that was precisely part of the plan. The former colonel in
the intelligence service of Saddam Hussein's air defense force had been
secretly pulling the strings at IS for years.
Former members of the group had repeatedly mentioned him as one of its leading figures. Still, it was never clear what exactly his role was.
Former members of the group had repeatedly mentioned him as one of its leading figures. Still, it was never clear what exactly his role was.
More @ Spiegel
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